Mine is up and looks great! It operates very smoothly. I was concerned when it arrived because of a hole in the box and it turned out that one of the aluminum roller pieces was bent in the center and the connector would not fit. I worked with it for a while with a rubber hammer and got it to where the connector could be knocked in by hand. I turned it and checked the run out and it had about a quarter inch It probably has some amount anyway I guess. I pulled the three cords thru by myself, I used a fiberglass sectional fish tape. Push it thru and put a funnel in the hole tape the cord to the fish tape and lay something heavy by the funnel and pull the cord thru. Doing this would be easier if the channels had the square ends rounded off this would help with the mismatch of the channels in the center. Mine sounded like it was ripping the fabric as I was pulling it thru I believe it must be from burring on the inside of the channels, maybe needs to have a wire brush ran down the inside of the channels. The direction you pull the fabric thru helps too. I wish the wall mounts were one piece double mount brackets so that it would be solid on either side of the arm's that would relieve a lot of stress. The hardest part is drilling holes thru the solid part of the brick. I'm a 70 year old mechanic/carpenter I did all mine by myself. I put two eye hooks in the soffit close to the wall and used two lashing straps to lift it and get it in the brackets. Worked great! It's a great awning we love it. The porch I put it over is exactly 8 feet the finish size of the awning is not. I wish I had gotten a 12 foot but that's ok. It's a very nice thing to have!