Cobra Deck and Concrete Restoration
reviews and complaints

In the past, we’ve stripped and refinished our large deck ourselves. But since we’re 65 yrs old, we decided to let younger professionals do it. We also wanted our screened-in porch thoroughly cleaned of black mold. Based on laudatory reviews and the sales rep’s pitch about how great the deck would look, we went with Cobra Deck & Concrete for $2300. Over the course of 3 weeks (yes, weeks, not days), 5 different crew members came out. The first was a young woman who stripped the deck and washed the rails for staining (the sales rep told us the oil-stained rails would not need to be stripped). Admittedly, she worked hard, but the next day revealed that a lot of the deck’s latex stain remained. Also, the rails and lattice were still very dirty, so we stripped them ourselves.

A few days later, a man came to strip a large patch of residual latex paint, but he didn’t remove any of the numerous patches scattered throughout, saying that sanding would take care of them. After a few more days, another man came to finish cleaning the missed moldy areas of the porch and did a very good job, but when we asked about putting down a protectant, he said it would cost $375 more (we subsequently did it ourselves in about 30 min). Finally, several days later, two more men came to sand and stain the deck. They acknowledged that the deck was not stripped properly, so we asked if they’d strip it again. They said they’d discuss it (presumably with the project manager). They decided to sand instead. They worked hard and while sanding removed most of the latex stain, it still left over 100 streaks and small patches throughout. Also, the sawdust filled the narrower crevices between the boards preventing drainage. They then put down one coat of stain and said they were done, as the wood wouldn’t absorb a second coat. Upon leaving, they said that it didn’t turn out as well as they’d hoped due to all of the residual latex. At our request, they left us the unused stain (about 2 gallons). Since the deck looked even worse the next day, we cleaned out the crevices and put on a second coat (which went on just fine). In total, we put in about 19 person-hours stripping and staining. While it still doesn’t “look like new” by any means, it’s now marginally acceptable.

To be fair, the crew worked hard, but was clearly rushing, so we suspect that the project manager (who clearly underestimated how much work was needed) wanted them to get onto other projects. And maybe that’s why they decided to sand and stain the same day rather than re-strip the deck (ideally with a better stripper) and stain when the deck dried. Clearly our experience doesn’t reconcile with the laudatory reviews, but since the company was called Renew Crew at that time, we wonder if there’s a new owner. If so, it seems that once Cobra sank their fangs into Renew Crew, rather than provide the previously lauded service, they adopted a business model more along the lines of “take the money and slither away.”

I had posted a review several weeks back and agreed to take it down after discussion with owner Chris. I chalked it up to communication issues and lack of properly trained staff and decided to give them a second chance. Sadly I was wrong and things ended the same way they began. Bad. Communication is a huge issue for this organization and office staff leave a lot to be desired. If you get Giovanni on the phone, you will get attitude, but you will not get any information or commitment on a callback or even any confidence that he will even convey the message at all or properly. The initial consult done by Chris was thorough and while I pointed all of the issues with my bad driveway, he assured me it could be saved. Then after weeks of chasing them around and the nice man who came here to do the work said 'no way' could the driveway be saved with a patch/paint/sealing. It was relayed to me that Chris said he did not know it was that bad until after it was power washed. Very strange since the items the man who was here pointed out as issues were the same issues I pointed out to Chris weeks back. The only good person there was Jennifer and I'm told she quit; small wonder. So, we canceled the rest of the work they were to do for us and settled on just paying for the power washing. What is really interesting is that they hounded me constantly for 7 days for the payment with many phone calls, and constant emails. They seem to know how to communicate when they want your money; that is the only thing you can depend on if you go with them. I am sad to have to leave this review but think it is best to make others aware. I would steer clear of Cobra Deck or Renew Crew, which was their former name.

Renew Crew don't honor its 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. I was promised their deck sealer would bead up and protect my deck from water. It don't bead up. They used some kind of paraffin water to "prove" to me it did bead up. We sent pictures, video clips, etc. No response. The crew also didn't wear masks as required by State law, even though we told them we are immuno-compromised. They said I could get a better result if I paid another $325 on top of the $600. I didn't trust them since they didn't honor the first satisfaction guarantee. Don't use this company!