I bought this gate because the reviews were generally good, and the price was better than many gates, plus it included two extensions - one 5" and one 10". I am using it as a puppy gate. The height is 36", so I don't expect a beagle to be able to jump it, but at the same time I think my cat would find it easy to escape from the dog. Hopefully I can teach her to jump it. The doorways I am trying to fit are 31"-32", so without the extensions the tension bolts do have to come almost all the way out to fit in the doorway. Despite that it seems to be sturdy enough that a beagle cannot push it down, and I have shook it and wiggled it myself without it moving much, but we'll see. I get my puppy in a few days. It looks pretty nice and was easy enough to install with the little wrench that comes with it. One of the bottom tension bolts is a little tilted though, bringing down the stability, but I have a suspicion our doorway is not perfectly parallel. I may have to put something there to even it out. It comes with 4 wall mounts, adhesive pads to place them, and screws with wall anchors to secure them, which are required if you use it at the top of stairs, which I won't be. Not as cheap looking as a lot of baby gates, and matches our white trim well. It's all white, which I favored over having a large gray contraption on the top or bottom of the gate. Having it in front of the laundry room matches rather well actually. I don't have a problem with the door width or the one handed operation. The opening is about 18 3/4", but there is a door stopper that sticks out a bit making it 17 1/2". This is REMOVABLE, making the gate swing open both ways. I don't have a problem with the width, as I am 5'8" and 125 lbs. As far as vacuuming, you're going to have to lift the vacuum because there is a floor bar. God forbid people do a little work to vacuum the room on the other side of the gate! Unfortunately the box arrived in awful condition so I thought the gate might be damaged. I ordered the gate from Amazon. It seems the gate was sitting in a warehouse for a very long time, because the little wrench it comes with to tighten the tension bolts was rusted or otherwise oxidized in places. That doesn't affect it's functionality at all though. The box and gate though are dusty and a little dirty. The box was taped shut, probably for shipping, but I am torn between thinking the gate was returned or just forgotten in some high humidity warehouse. If it was returned it may malfunction and I may have to return it myself. Hope this is informative. UPDATE: Got my baby beagle, and oddly enough, he can squeeze through the gate at the bottom section near the wall when it arches away a little bit to make room for baseboards. If my doorway was a little smaller he wouldn't be able to fit, but as it is he can squeeze through and get at the cat food, etc. I haven't let him since he discovered it, and he will soon be too big to squeeze through. My cat on the other hand is so lazy. She will jump out of the laundry room over the gate, but I have not yet witnessed her jump IN to the laundry room to eat. My housemate says he's seen her do it twice though. It may have something to do with the wood floor going in, and the tile going out.
