Distinguished contracting firm in Redwater grows despite Covid

By Irene van der Kloet

Anyone wanting to make changes to their own house or business can either do it themselves or hire someone. Cobra Contracting in Redwater will ensure all aspects of a renovation or construction are looked after professionally. Justin Robinson and his partner Brooke Warford started their own business five years ago from their garage. Justin has a background in industrial construction and has a career as a safety officer. Brooke worked as a residential painter. In 2017 they started their painting business, “Edmonton Paint Professionals,” but there was a need for construction work, and so they changed the name to Cobra Contracting in 2020. Small construction projects led to building complete houses, and their business thrived.

“We’ve noticed, a lot of the times, people have a budget. What I pride myself on is I go in and ask: What is your budget. You tell me what you want, and I’ll tell you if it’s even possible. And I’ll try and build something around it. We take it from idea to design to confirmation of materials to build, and they are completely hands-off.”

Justin says that people often do not know what they are getting themselves into with a renovation or building a house. People will be working with many different companies such as framing, plumbing, electric, and the challenge is that they need to schedule everybody. The benefit that Justin offers people is that they don’t need to call anybody else: they call Justin, and he will coordinate all the people required to do the construction. Justin hires locally, often the same contractors. “The fact that we utilize these contractors so often will put us on the top of their priority list. If I offer a guy $80,000 a year of work, he will pick up the phone every time I call him. Although it may cost people a little more money, it will give them the confidence that we’ll get the job done correctly and within the budget they expected.”

Covid has thrown a wrench in the business because sometimes scheduled deliveries don’t get done: the driver has Covid and can’t come. They opened the company a week after Covid hit, and it has been a challenge since the beginning. It was hard to get the materials because of lineups and curbside pickup. He also got many phone calls from people who started their renovations and came to a point where they didn’t know how to proceed.

Justin and Brooke run Cobra Contracting with Adrian, Justin’s best friend. Justin is the overall manager, Brooke looks after a lot of the office work, and Adrian is responsible for finances. Their business won the “Award For Best General Contractor” three years in a row on the website “Trusted Pro’s.”

Looking at the future, they have a ten-year plan for the business. Justin then wants to retire and spend time with his family. The company takes a lot of their private time: Justin and Adrian are in at 6:30 in the morning to get everyone started and come home at 10:00 at night. But in ten years, they’d want to hand it over or become a partner with someone. Their business is unique in Redwater, so there is a high demand for their services. They try to stay local and not do jobs in the city as they like the easy-going way things are done in the area.

Cobra Contracting can be reached at 780-580-6999.