Zenith Industries ZN700001 Trim Puller

If you're a professional craftsman that often to occasionally removes trim, this is a 'must have' tool. Why? Several reasons: 1. It's very effective at removing trim (it does exactly what the inventor intended) 2. Very simple, easy to use 3. Massive striking surface...you can't miss 4. Nice, non-slip comfortable grip (durable EPDM) 5. Reduces and/or eliminates time-consuming drywall repairs Of course, most people finding/contemplating this Zenith pry bar are asking (what I asked myself): "Do I really need this? Is it that good/effective or just another gimmick tool?" The answer to this really rests in demoing the tool yourself. Once you try it...well, it's just the right tool for vast majority of trim removal work. I have two Vaughn pry bars plus another long flat one--all have been used in the past for decades (and have caused drywall damage at one time or another). This Zenith bad boy on the other hand exceeded expectations and caused no damage. One smack on the massive striking surface and the trim practically blew off the wall. Hardwood, MDF, softwood...it doesn't matter. It seems to do excellent in all the situations I've encountered so far. The tool is a pleasure to use. Bottom line is most folks own scissors and could trim the lawn with them...but why? Get a lawnmower or hire someone with a lawnmower because it works! Same deal here. This trim tool works very well. Perhaps not in every situation, who knows? Overall you'll be delighted to have and use this trim puller. I don't have a lot of extra room on my truck for useless/redundant tools. This is neither. In fact, if I had zero spare room to carry it, I'd get rid of something not so useful to make room. Excellent purchase: good heavy duty quality, effective, easy to use and priced reasonably. For professionals, it's well worth it.

I am doing a whole house DIY remodel, which includes a lot of deconstruction, in which I don't want to damage surrounding elements which will stay in place. Obviously removing door trim to be painted, and scoring sheetrock at chair rail height, to replace with paneling over new sheetrock (had some water damage to original rock in the bottom 6-12" which required replacement). Didn't want to rip it out all the way up to the ceiling...unnecessary. At any rate, I found this tool to be totally indispensable. Having done stuff like this before on a couple of my rental properties and a restaurant remodel that I owned, I have a wide variety of crow bars in many different shapes, since different leverage is achieved with different shapes of crow bar. On my latest remodel, I found myself using this clever tool, almost exclusively. Only picked up one of my heavy "angled" crowbars just once. This thing rocks. I was worried that it might bend, due to the extreme stress I was putting on it, when prying some 2x8's away from other framing. But that was quickly put to rest because this thing is thick and beefy, showing absolutely no signs of deflection at the 90 degree turn of the tool. I even had to whack it hard a couple of times, just below the handle with a hand held sledge, to get the 2x8 to begin to loosen with the heavy framing nails that held it in place. This tool is a pit bull. When removing sheetrock, which thankfully was nailed to studs instead of screwed (home built in the mid 60's), I simply inserted the leading edge of the tool, between the stud and the rock, and gave it a few taps with the hammer and the wedge action of the flange protrusion on the tool, quickly separated the sheetrock from the stud by simply tapping the butt end lightly with a hammer. BUT, what I really loved is that I did not have to pick up a hammer or a pry bar, to dislodge the sheetrock nails from the studs. The little notch along the leading edge of the tool made quick work of nail extraction with very little effort or leverage. Popped them right out with a quick flick of the wrist. Real time saver in the long run, when dealing with a lot of nail pulling. I even started using it instead of my hammer on all the other nails that needed to be extracted from door frames. I noticed some negative reviews before purchasing on Amazon, in which there were complaints about the tool bending. I can tell you unequivocally, that those reviews are false and probably written by folks with an agenda (i.e. maybe they were plants from competitors who have infringed on the Zenith patents and produced knockoffs which are not as beefy as this original). I really challenged this tool with the sledge hammer strikes just below the handle to get that 2x8 dislodged far enough to get an aggressive crow bar hammered into the space created by the zenith, in order to separate it from the rest of the structural framing....didn't bat an eye. I am always on the lookout for tools which can be so unique as to become indispensable by virtue of their utility in performing frequent and ordinary tasks. Once in a blue moon, I stumble upon one, which I wish I had had for years. This one fills that bill and then some. I hesitated at first, due to the price, but the leverage action of the angled flange and the wide broad surface which spreads the "prying" load over a larger area to prevent gouges in walls, when removing door trim, really caught my attention and prompted me to say "to heck with the price". I am glad that I did. It has proved its worth in action and it has more than paid for itself in more efficient use of my time, and less damage where none is wanted. You get what you pay for and bottom line is that you should not be tempted by the illegal "patent infringing" knock-offs which are cheaper because they are not as beefy and robust (metal quality and thickness). And NO, I am in no way affiliated with whomever Zenith is. They just deserve accolades for a great idea without any compromise on quality and utility.

6/20 update - Used this tool at my sons new home to remove some wonky trim work. My son asked if he could keep the trim puller. I ordered another one that arrived today. Original review - I've rebuilt multiple homes over the years and my specialty is trim work. I own all manner of demolition tools - claw hammers, wide and narrow pry bars, miniature to large crowbars, demolition levers, heavy duty putty knives and even compressor powered hand held air hammers. Nothing I currently own compares to the utility, ease of use and dexterity I've seen with this Zenith trim puller. It's width and design make it tough to mark up walls and allow me to remove long sections of walnut, oak and maple trim intact. I'm currently replacing a 27 year old builders grade oak handrail that has crummy pine trim that I plan to repurpose so I don't want to bust it up during removal. I also need to replace the old oak spindle base base with a new 5/4 oak base to support a new glass handrail I'm installing. I'm changing out all the associated trim work and the Zenith puller is simply awesome. It works quickly on any trim that isn't painted or glued in place. But once you break the paint/glue bonds, the trim comes off with the Zenith puller. I attached a short video showing use of the tool on some simple pine trim I'm removing for my hand rail project. If the trim is stuck, use your palm to tap the puller into place. On really tight trim, I use a dead blow mallet to engage the separation angle on the blade which works really well. The only time the puller has not worked immediately was on 5/4 x 6 oak that was glued in place with construction adhesive but it did eventually work by hammering the puller though the adhesive and some additional hard core "persuasion". I know this is an expensive puller but if you do this sort of work all the time like I do, the Zenith trim puller is "must have".

This does a pretty good job of prying baseboards off walls without damage to the walls, in most cases, but not as well as the video shows. If you push down to pry it won't damage the wall (at least not in a visible area), but that is less effective than pulling from the side. However pulling or pushing laterally can be less effective if the baseboard is behind the flooring. Lifting the tool is definitely a no-no since that will put a sizable hole in the drywall above the baseboard. It is designed to be used laterally, and that is how I used it most of the time, but when the baseboard was covered at the bottom by flooring material, lateral movements were ineffective. The best solution I found was to remove the flooring (carpet with tack strips, laminate, tile, etc.) but when that was not an option I had to push down on the tool along the entire length, then using good gloves, lift and pull up the baseboard from one end. I removed 165 ft of baseboard with it and messed up the wall in 5 places, but since I was replacing the 3½" with 5" baseboard, it didn't matter. The tool is made of resilient steel that absolutely performed as designed... it does not bend and holds up to repeated beating with a hammer. The wide top makes it easy to hold the rubber handle and tap the tool behind the baseboard without hitting your hand or the wall. I used a dead blow hammer because it was effective without being loud, but you could easily use a metal hammer without risking damage to the tool. I'm obviously not a pro so I cannot give advise about it's value as a special tool, but if you're DIY'er like me and need a tool for the job because you don't own one, then this is a good alternative, albeit somewhat expensive compared to a simple, common, flat pry bar that works nearly as well.

This simple tool is great. It’s just a bent piece of metal with a handle, but it works. I was able to remove all the baseboards in a bathroom without any damage to the wood or the walls. It actually pays for itself. After some touch-up I am going to reuse the existing baseboards which will save me more than what the tool cost. Even if you only use it once, it’s worth it.

Strong and thin bladed. I used this in conjunction with a smaller stainless steel puller to pull apart redwood trim in my wine cellar. Worked great.

The idea is great. The constitution is top notch. Issue is the angle is wrong for effective use and the tool keeps unscrewing from the shaft.

This works great. The staples I pulled were in 70 yr old oak flooring . Sometimes one leg remained embedded. That worked out ok for me. At least with the staples partially out, I could grab the remainder with pliers and easily extract it. I'm impressed with the build quality and durability. Very pleased with this purchase.