Free Recessed Trim With an Anchor
Driving a concrete anchor into a stop-drilled hole to jack recessed trim proud enough for a bar, instead of crushing the siding edge.
Strip a Deck Standing Up With a Long-Handled Demolition Bar
One of 3 takes on Deck Board Pry Stick
The Problem
Pulling up an old deck from your knees is slow and it wrecks your back. The usual method is a flat bar and a hammer, working one fastener at a time, bent over the board you're removing — and every board means shuffling along on the joists, finding the next screw or nail, and levering it out at arm's length below you.
The Technique
A deck demolition bar is a long-handled lever built for one job: pulling boards while you stand on them.
- Stand on the deck, on the side of the board you haven't removed yet.
- Hook the head of the bar over the far edge of the board you want out — the edge away from you.
- Pull the handle back toward you. The head rotates against the joist and levers the board up off its fasteners.
- Move along the board and repeat where it's still held down, then move to the next board.
The five-foot handle gives you enough leverage to break the fasteners loose without a hammer, and because you're pulling toward yourself from a standing position, your weight does most of the work instead of your arms.
Pro tip: You always stand on the intact section of deck, working backward toward the part you haven't touched. That's the safe direction — the boards under your feet are still fastened while you're standing on them.
Where It Doesn't Help
This is a demolition tool, and the distinction matters before you buy one. The head hooks over the board's edge and levers against it, so the board takes the load. Boards come up fast, and they come up damaged — split at the edges, torn around the screw holes, or snapped.
If you're salvaging the decking to reuse or resell, this is the wrong tool. Lifting boards intact means working each fastener out from underneath, or backing screws out one at a time, and neither is fast. Decide what happens to the boards before you buy anything, because that decision picks the tool.
Safety note: Old deck boards come up with fasteners still in them, pointing up. Clear each board off the deck as it comes free rather than letting a pile build behind you, and keep the joists in view — once the boards are off you're walking on framing, and an old joist that looked fine under decking can be soft where it's been holding water.
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