This only took about 15 minutes to asemble w/ included tools and good instructions. My cat was comfortably climbing and scratching on it within minutes. It's been a couple of months now and she dosen't scratch anywhere else anymore. The only problem is, if it's sitting on carpet it rocks a bit when the cat climbs and jumps agressivly. It's posible, but not likely, to tip over. It could use a slightly bigger base.