KIDCO SAFEWAY GATE – WHITE
- Hardware mounted metal gate
- For use at the top of the stairs only
- Constructed of strong tubular steel
- Easy to open with just one hand
- Swings open in either direction
The Safeway Gate is rated number one for the top of the stairs by a leading independent consumer organization. Constructed of sturdy, tubular steel with a non-toxic coating, it mounts permanently for added safety. It’s simple to install and simple to remove, and the one-hand operation makes it simple to use, too. An exclusive, easily adjustable feature prevents the gate from swinging open over the stairs. It fits openings from 24.75″ to 43.5″ wide, and also works with most railings and angled walls.
Rating: 
(out of 38 reviews)
Price: $ 49.95
about 1 year ago
Review by S.M. for KidCo Safeway Gate – White
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This gate works very well. My 5 year old can open and close it easily, but my 2 year old cannot. It can be opened/closed easily with one hand while holding a baby with the other. We mounted 2 of them, one at the top and one at the bottom of the stairs. We’ve used this gate for 2 years without any problems.
When installing, don’t use the screws that came with the gate. Use 1-1/2″ galvanized screws instead. Pre-drill slightly narrower holes about 1″ into the studs before screwing. If you run into a metal plate just underneath the drywall while drilling (common in newer homes at the corners of walls), stop drilling and take a sharp and somewhat thick nail and hammer it gently through the metal plate, just far enough to puncture a hole that the drill bit can fit through, then continue drilling. When tightening the screws, you can use a cordless screwdriver, but stop just before it is tight, then tighten by hand with a Philips screwdriver so as to not break the plastic. From start to finish, it took me 2 hours to install and that was with my 5 year old “helping”
After installation, if the gate is difficult to open/close and doesn’t seem to drop into place or lift easily, retighten the bottom hinge bolt: if it is misaligned it will catch on the plastic rod and stop sliding. Use crescent wrench or pliers to hold the bolt firmly (not too tightly or it will crush the threads), then use the wrench included with the gate to tighten the nut. Also, rub candle wax on the locking bolts and edge of the locking trays, so that the bolts slide easily into the trays. A little WD40 on the hinge sliding mechanisms helps, too.
about 1 year ago
Review by David Nicks for KidCo Safeway Gate – White
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I have several of these gates, along with the Safety 1st Smartlight Stair Gate. I bought them three years and three houses ago when my daughter started walking. They have been installed at the top of stairs, bottom of stairs, and between rooms, both as kid gates and as barriers for a 95-lb Labrador (Jack) and a psychotic lab mix we rescued (Maggie). Maggie occasionally freaked out during thunderstorms and apparently took it out on Jack. The gates helped protect Jack from Maggie. Did their job, too. One day we came home from church and Maggie had eaten her way through the wall from the garage into the utility room – fortunately for Jack, there was an extra stud in the way and she hadn’t yet chewed through the 2×4 before we got home. But Maggie never ate through one of these gates!
I have moved two times since my original purchase, and have taken all of my gates with me each time and reinstalled them in the new houses. After three installations, they are still working just great! My latest installation was particularly tricky, due to the complete lack of a suitable mounting surface for the latch side of the gate at the top of the stairs – see my product photo for details.
As for ease of installation, ease of use, quality, etc. These gates are definitely the best value for the money. Unlike other, more expensive gates, there isn’t much framework or brackets on either side of the gate when it’s open. When this thing swings open wide, it lays FLAT against the wall and eats up a mere 1/2″ of your opening. If that’s still in your way, it takes maybe 30 seconds (if you’re slow) and NO TOOLS to unlatch the gate hinge, and remove the gate entirely. A few small white bits stay stuck to your walls, ready for the gate to be reinstalled in another 30 seconds.
Installation requires a moderate amount of common sense, and perhaps a teeny bit more competence than that required to hang a picture. Like many others, I tossed out the included screws and went with new hardware – I chose 3″ decking screws from the big box hardware store for the hinge side. The latch side isn’t as critical, since it won’t get loaded nearly as bad as the hinge side.
I beg you to at least get one thing right, ESPECIALLY if you’re putting this gate at the top of the stairs. Mount the hinge brackets to SOLID WOOD. DON’T USE DRYWALL ANCHORS, even the mega-beefy ones. You should get a stud finder, determine the location of the stud – and if you’re not real sure whether you’re real close to the center of the stud, then “hunt” for each side of the stud by drilling a row 1/16″ holes thru the drywall right at the top of your baseboard, spaced 1/8″ apart, until you know where the edges of the stud are. Then use a level to transfer that location up to the top hinge bracket.
If you can’t pick the exact location of your hinge bracket, because, for example, the latch bracket HAS to be in a specific spot (my last installation, at the bottom of the stairs, involved mounting the gate latch to a wrought iron banister, which put the hinge directly opposite the banister, where there is no wall stud), then install a 17.5″ x 3″ x 1/2″ piece of wood (you can get a nice piece of hardwood, like poplar or oak, in the project lumber section of your hardware store, in just about this size…maybe 24″ long instead of 17.5″ long) onto the studs on either side of where your hinges need to be. This often is also perfect to compensate for the thickness of the baseboard that your bottom hinge will get mounted on. Now you have a nice, solid piece of wood to anchor your top hinge on. The top hinge will get the most abuse and will be the most likely to get yanked out of the wall when your three-year old demonstrates how they can swing around on the open gate. So far, all my gates have survived multiple such experiences.
The gates are adjustable at all four corners. If your gate isn’t swinging or latching properly, all that’s required is to make a simple adjustment at one or more corners. As long as you mounted your hinges so one was directly over the other one, then you can tune this gate to work flawlessly. On the hinge side, there are special eye bolts that thread into the gate. Extending/retracting these eye bolts help to fine-tune the width of the gate opening, and they also are how you make the gate level. On the latch side, there are bolts with a smooth, round flat head that engage into the latches. Each of these can be micro-adjusted so that they just barely kiss the latching surfaces before dropping into the locked position. If your house settles and the walls get closer together, it takes 30 seconds (and an adjustable wrench) to loosen the jam nut, readjust the bolt to perfection, and re-tighten the jam nut. I think I’ve had to do this to one of my gates, once.
I have one opening that’s wider than the maximum width for this gate – no problem, I just ordered the extension (KidCo 24″ Extension for Safeway and Elongate Gates) and five minutes later, I had a wider gate (Not five minutes after ordering, Amazon’s not quite THAT good
)
After doing this so many times, I don’t read the instructions or use the mounting template provided. I follow these steps to get perfect results:
1. Assemble the gate and get it roughly in position, sitting on the floor.
2. Put each of the brackets on its corresponding gate part and get an idea of what it needs to mount to.
3. Do any engineering/architectural work necessary to get flat, solid mounting locations for your brackets. This can get tricky, but it’s pretty much a requirement for any gate.
4. Mount the lower gate hinge within 1/2″ of the floor (you can go higher if you want, but don’t exceed 2.5″ or your kid might be able to get a head through under the gate). Use the latch as a marking template for the holes, but then use a level to ensure the top hole is plumb (vertically in line with) the bottom hole.
5. With the lower gate hinge mounted, put the gate on the hinge and the slide the upper bracket into position on the gate. With the gate plumb (if you’re working alone, an easy way to do this is swing the gate flat against the wall, lean on it and stick your level horizontally across the top of it), mark your top holes. Use the level again to make sure the top holes are plumb with the bottom bracket holes – this step is CRITICAL if you expect your gate to stay put when it’s not latched closed. When you have the holes marked, mount the top latch.
6. Hang the gate and swing it into the closed position. Position either the upper or lower latch brackets into place to get an idea of how much you need to grow or shrink the gate width. Use the eye bolts to make fine adjustments, or reassemble the gate sections for macro adjustments. Make sure the gate stays level by taking the same number of turns on the top & bottom eye bolts for each adjustment.
7. When you get ‘er close, position the latch brackets to the gate and mark the holes on the wall when the gate is in its closed position. Mount both latch brackets. Make sure you put the little stopper plugs in the brackets if you’re mounting at the top of stairs – this makes sure your gate only opens away from the stair opening.
8. Check for final fitment and adjust the bolts on the latch side until they line up perfectly with the slots in the latch brackets.
Takes me about 30 minutes, once I have a solid, flat surface for my brackets, to mount a gate, and that’s with two toddlers “helping” me.
The gates are very smooth to operate, and can be opened & closed SILENTLY with one hand, while holding a basket of laundry with the other hand. If you leave an inch or two of space under the gate, you can actually close it and latch it with one foot, while holding two screaming kids on your hips.
As I said near the beginning of this review, my latest installation was quite tricky. The latch side of the gate lined up with the top of a wrought-iron stair railing, and the handrail was hanging several inches into the space where the gate would swing. I needed a flat, vertical mounting surface on the *inside* of this handrail, and behind the handrail was just a wrought iron railing – no wall. The solution turned out to be pretty simple. Just a piece of oak 1×3, about 32″ tall, and a couple pieces of plywood (I like Baltic birch plywood because it’s stronger and has a finished look to it) held together with some #10×3″ wood screws. I used a couple 1/2×1 pieces of oak to clamp this to the railing. No permanent modifications to the railing, and the whole thing is more sturdy than the railing itself. I’ve uploaded a photo of the setup in the customer images above.
I highly recommend this gate – it will definitely be the one I turn to if I need another one.
about 1 year ago
Review by Gerardo Fierro for KidCo Safeway Gate – White
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I purchased this gate on line because I could not find a similar gate in a local store. Installing it was a bit time consuming but not horrible. The door itself is solid enough to withstand the constant shaking from my 1 year old daughter. However, the reason I gave this door one star is the latching mechanism. All of our other baby gates will latch on their own when you close it. If you look closely at the picture, you will see that there are two large bolts, one at the bottom and the other at the top of the gate. You have to lift the gate slightly so the bolts can hang on the cradles that hold the gate shut. There is no way you can swing the door and have it latch automatically. Compared to the one gate I purchased after installing this one, the gate that automatically latches is much, much better. Also, the bolts keep comming lose no matter how tightly I secure them. When that happens, I can’t close the gate without taking out my pliers and tightening them again.
about 1 year ago
Review by MommyMarcy for KidCo Safeway Gate – White
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Great gate! It can be difficult to install, but the sturdiness makes it totally worth it. Easy to open with one hand (actually a thumb and finger is all it takes), yet difficult enough that a child wouldn’t be able to figure it out very easily. I have peace of mind knowing that this gate is on my stairs!
**note that if you are not installing this on a flat, solid surface, you will need the installation kit
about 1 year ago
Review by Rachel L. Harry for KidCo Safeway Gate – White
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A lot of the reviews of this product here are very good and have good ideas about mounting the gate. I am really surprised that one key piece of information is missing from all of them. This gate does not come with screws to mount this on a wall with dry wall – even WITH a stud behind it. A one reviewer mentioned the directions themselves say that the screws included are meant for mounting this gate directly into wood. However, they go on to talk about mounting this into a stud behind dry wall. The screws included are 3/4″ long at most. Dry wall is 1/2″ thick on most interior walls. Add the bracket to that and the screws that come with the product will not even hit the stud even if you do mount it over one. The fix is easy: Go get #6 screws that are 1″ to 1.25″ long. But can I just point out how friggin annoying that is? COME ON KIDCO!!! That is just ridiculous. 90% of customers are going to be mounting this into “normal” walls with drywall on it. That said, the gate is very sturdy and of high quality. I was in a situation where I did not have studs that directly oppose one another on the walls I was mounting it to. If that is the case, put the hinge side on the stud. Contrary to the other reviewer, Toggle bolts should be sufficient to hold the latch brackets in place and be quite safe – as long as the hinge side is in a stud. Ironically, most of the reviewers here probably used the boxed hardware and are not mounted into a stud at all but find the gate to be quite secure anyway. one final thing to keep in mind is that the bottom brackets are all the way at the bottom of the gate. If you have a rather tall floor molding that does not have at least a 2″ flat surface for you to mount the lower brackets on, this gate may not work for you because it will be mounted too high. My molding is 4.25″ off the ground and is not as safe as I would like it to be. As my daughter gets older it will be less of a problem but this is definitely something to consider before purchasing.
4/5 for not including the standard hardware needed to mount this gate. Really dumb Kidco. You can do better.