Tear Out Deck Boards With a Lever Made From Two Screwed-Together 2x4s

The Problem

Prying screwed-down deck boards with a crowbar means working on your knees, bruising your palms, and fighting one fastener at a time. The purpose-made deck demolition tools fix that, but for a one-time teardown it's another purchase.

The Technique

1. Screw two 2x4s together in a T: a crosspiece fastened flat across the end of a longer handle piece.
2. Make the crosspiece wider than your joist spacing, so it can seat across two joists.
3. Slide the head under a deck board, rest the crosspiece on the joists, and lever the handle down — the board pops up off its fasteners.
4. Need more force? Swap in a longer 2x4 for the handle and get more room behind it.

The crosspiece spreads the load across two joists and gives the lever its fulcrum, which is the same geometry the commercial tools sell — built here from demo scrap and four screws.