This past Saturday was deck teardown day at my parents’ house. They’re replacing their 20-year-old wooden deck with a larger version, and called on me to remove the built-in benches and floorboards while retaining—not smashing—the underneath base. Since the deck was built in 1988, the long, four-inch nails used to secure the floorboards were rusty and impossible to pull out, which meant removing the 12-foot boards without damaging the deck base would require hefty and time-consuming work.

But that’s when I discovered something: building a new deck can be fun work, but tearing down an old, decrepit deck is even more of a joy, especially with brawny, well-designed demolition tools. While I don’t often write tool reviews (leave that to the advertisers), Stanley’s line of multi-functional demolition bars—especially the 30-inch, 8.5-pound version turned gruelling, prisoner-worthy work into something much more manageable, even fun.

Forged from a single piece of high-carbon steel, these four-in-one tools feature an oversized striking face coupled with a serrated extracting claw perfectly sized to grab two-inch-thick lumber. But it was the tool’s pry-bar end that really came in handy; I’d wedge the tool between the joist and floorboards and, using my weight, pop up the board.

The shorter, lighter versions (15 inch and 18 inch) were useful for more finicky work, especially around corners and along the house wall, and for prying nails. While I certainly don’t need all three in my toolkit, the longest version certainly found a permanent place in my demolition line-up.