Aside from the directions not being great, my husband said this was not hard to put together.  We didn't want to bolt it down, but we needed to secure it in case of a hurricane.  I found these metal square planters that we filled halfway with cement, then set the posts in. That thing isn't going anywhere and is very sturdy. The price for this size was the best I had found after researching for about a year. I waited several months for it to come back in stock - very glad I did. It transformed the back yard.