Our search for a hall tree became rather exhaustive and went way beyond Amazon and other major retailers and even thrift stores. The price spread is remarkable for these items and some are more beauty over function. I continually landed on Prepac and their different products and eventually decided the remarkable value of their products outweighed the concerning review trends on Amazon. Plus, I felt the reviews prepared me for what to expect in quality and in assembly.
The box it arrives in is heavy. My carton showed up with some concerning damage, especially on one corner. Thankfully, there were huge bricks of styrofoam and layered cardboard on the ends for protection during the long journey from Canada to South Florida. With my wife nearing her final trimester, I was well aware this would be a solo venture so I hefted the heavy flatpack inside and proceeded to unbox it piece by piece, anticipating irreparable damage. While I did find several pieces with what many other customers have noted as QC issues - damage to the foil finish or particleboard edges before packaging, I did not discover any crushed pieces that would be unusable or require contacting the company for a replacement.
A practice of mine when assembling anything from basic flatpack to more complicated units from IKEA and even a medium-sized steel and vinyl storage shed: READ THE FULL ASSEMBLY MANUAL FROM COVER TO COVER FIRST (unless of course there's a section written in a language not of my native tongue). This ensures no surprises. I can always anticipate the next step because I've previewed the full manual. As I study assembly manuals, I commonly devise ways to simplify steps or even change up the process a bit to my benefit.
That was the case with this unit.
I read several reviews about the consumer assembling the unit on its face per the manual and then standing it up with a partner and the small pins and cams holding the lower unit to the upper unit would sheer out of the particleboard causing intense damage and even greater frustration. Knowing I didn't have a like-sized partner for assembly assistance, and knowing I could do it better than the manual, I built the entire top section per instructions on our living room rug including the full back panel which is fastened with dozens of small tacks. Then, I abandoned it there.
My next step was to proceed with building the lower unit of this 60" wide model that includes the 24 shoe cubbies. Again, I attached the back panel with the tacks provided, saving some off to the side for connecting the overhanging seam of the top panel to the lower unit of the furniture. As I was wrapping up assembly, I realized we were shorted a crucial hardware piece in the supply package. Shame on this company for not deliberately providing an extra 1-2 units of each unique hardware piece as nearly all RTA furniture suppliers do. Thankfully, we're big fans of IKEA and flatpack furniture, and I am a bit neurotic when it comes to saving the extra hardware pieces and little wrenches and tools that come with RTA, so I was able to find a suitable replacement for the missing item.
Here comes the fun part of my deviation in the assembly manual: do not join the upper and lower units together facedown on the floor. 1.) It's an asinine move that forces you to join a narrow top section to a bulky bottom section with the depth deficit unsupported. 2.) the action of standing up this 100+ pound unit fully assembled is what can lead to tearing out of the hardware that joins the two at the benchtop surface.
Instead, place the lower unit in its final resting place in your home but leave a minimum 3-foot (1 meter) space between the unit and the wall (for future tack-driving in the back panel). Now, get your like-sized helper (or in my altered situation, my 3 boys, ages 6, 9 & 11) and explain in detail that you will be carefully lifting the upper unit off the protected surface where you assembled it originally, rotating it to its upright position and maneuvering the unit to its mate. A couple of imperative notes: watch your overhead clearance when carrying this tall piece (doorways, archways, hanging light fixtures and other ceiling protrusions). Also, make sure your partner (or a posse of offspring) understands they must be precise in aligning the protruding hardware with the holes on the lower unit. Our joining of the two units with this method was not without calamity and some apologies and praises for a job well done, but it went rather well. The final steps include using a stubby screwdriver to turn the cams hidden within the upper corner shoe cubbies that affix the upper and lower units together and then going behind the unit to drive the last few tacks, joining the overhang of the back panel to the lower unit. Then just slide it into place against the wall.
Other notes from my experience: we did have a few pieces of "wood" where the espresso foil covering was damaged or straight up missing/torn off somehow. Thankfully, I was able to strategically hide these imperfections in the assembly process so the finished unit looks pretty darn good.
I have minimal concern for the backpack/coat hooks living a long useful life. Other reviewers have griped of poor quality or fears of them stripping out or breaking from heavy items. The manual provides a safe load limit (can't recall the number) which I feel is very reasonable and could be exceeded if not on a regular basis. The hooks attach to a half-inch thick (13 mm) piece of finished particleboard that also has the 3 mm backerboard attached behind it, using screws of fair quality and girth. I would not regularly hang a backpack on the hook with 15+ pounds of textbooks in it, but thankfully our boys rarely carry heavy loads in their backpacks so they are hung up on the hooks daily.
I did not use the included hardware to secure this unit to the wall because I felt it to be inferior and a pain to install. I opted to secure the unit utilizing short steel angle brackets that come with some furniture pieces from IKEA (mainly the Expedit/Kallax cubby shelf line). These also have black-brown plastic covers that conceal the metal finish hardware. This method did require me to drill holes in the top plate of the unit which I do not regret. I was careful in not allowing the drill bit to plunge all the way through the top plate. The biggest bonus here (IMO) is that I could place the anchor hardware anywhere (instead of just on the sides as per manufacturer), which allowed me to anchor it directly to wood studs and not just the drywall.
If you purchase this and assemble it in your home, please please anchor it in some way. There is definitely a tipping hazard here, especially if the floor is unlevel or if hooks become overloaded with multiple items across the unit.
It's been 4 months since being put into service and the unit looks great, has received many many compliments from visitors and has held up to a family of 6. We utilize nearly every shoe cubby and the hooks hold backpacks, lunchboxes, a diaper bag and other items without issue. I would not hesitate to purchase from Prepac again. They have an impressive line of furniture in various sizes, designs and colors at prices that are really hard to beat for what you get. They just need to really improve their in-house QC processes so they're not packing cartons with damaged pieces from the factory.
ONE LAST NOTE!
You can fit a pair of shoes in each cubby - not just a single shoe. Turn the shoes on their side and insert the first one ankle first and the second one inverted, toe first so it nests with the first one. So easy, a 9-year-old can do it! (my 6-year-old probably could too, but his size 4s fit just fine side-by-side)
I will say my oldest son who is already in a size 9 men's shoe has one pair of kicks with thick soles and they do not nest and he is forced to use one cubby per shoe. I imagine high tops would be a similar issue and nice workboots with heavy soles would straight up not fit in a single cubby. But let's face it, if you've got big steel-toed, ankle-protecting work boots you're not trying to cram those in a shoe cubby like this, you're leaving them in the garage to exhaust their woes of the workday or you have one of those sweet rubber mats with the tray that collects all the mud and riff raff they collect and inevitably shed once home.
Best of luck! We're really happy with our 60" Prepac hall tree but I also feel we got pretty lucky with the unit that was delivered to us and the care UPS took in handling it through the long journey. I know some reviewers did not have such a good experience from the get-go.
