When put together properly this is a very sturdy, attractive and useful storage bench. The pieces have to snap together properly for it to function as it should. It's much easier if two people assemble it. My other thought was how well it'd keep my items dry. Well, recently I had 2 severe thunder storms and on checking afterwards, no water had seeped inside and everything was dry!  I'm very pleased with my storage bench and would recommend it. I'd also recommend getting some man power to snap the pieces in place.