We live in an area where it is very windy, and nothing between us and the strong North wind for 10 miles except for a few cows (which do not do much for blocking the wind). It is holding up well with the metal brackets (supplied) that we pounded into the ground, and built a deck around, and survived the winter well. It went together fairly easy for me (I just stood there handing my husband tools), but was not too difficult for him either.