Assembly was very easy, 4 screws was it. I actually love the smaller water and cleaner size, the weight wasn't an issue using the top separate. Our carpet is over 25 years old and was always commercially steam cleaned. We got a new puppy last November and he missed his pads often. Having pets it just made sense to get a cleaner we could use whenever we needed it. WOW was I amazed! The carpet has never looked better. It was almost dry to touch after cleaning and it looked great. I could tell the carpet never had a good deep clean by the carpet fibers that the cleaner pulled up. The carpet was so soft and smelled great!