Get a helper, you will need them.Don't fret that the pipes are not tight, you need them al the same length to sit flush against your wall.Be mindful that they are loose while installing as they will flip over to one side or the other if you do not carry with them. To get them level can use floor or some table top and a speed level, which you will need while mounting.In a wooden wall such as mine, I bet you could mount this and use for pullup bar, as long as you are not too heavy and try to 1 do 1 handers in the middle. I put over my toilet next to my shower and can use as a grab bar getting out. The wood seemed a shade darker on 1 side vs the other, not sure anyone would notice the difference, assuming the small loop was to hold shelf in place, I did not use this, it did not move around with towels on it.A lot more parts than I anticipated when looking at the photo but overall it was easy to put together and is sturdy.The shelf was easy to put together in about 2 minutes. I was able to get all of the pipes to fit tightly together despite that another review said it would be loose until hung on the wall. I was pretty disappointed to find that the board is in fact not wood. It is pressed board, much darker in color and has white seems…very different from what is pictured. For the price I guess I can’t complain too much and I can always get a wooden board cut for it. It was easy to hang. We decided to attach 2x4s to the studs and then hang the shelf from the 2x4s so we wouldn’t need to worry about it pulling out from the drywall. Overall I’m very happy with it.