Abardeen Roof Slating & Tiling

When John Spinner came to quote on long need work on my slate roof, the conversation turned, of course, to slate as a roofing material. And as the conversation continue, I realised that John's knowledge of slate was far beyond a journeyman tradesman. He identified the region in the UK where the slate was likely quarried, and said that at 125 years, the roof had served well beyond the expected life of slates from that region.

The job was, of necessity (cost), to be tackled in two parts. First the east and north faces, the east being the most deteriorated, and later the west and south. The original slates were 24 x 12 inch, and as they were in short supply, after the Abbottsford Convent re-roof, John would recycle as many as were serviceable. The quote was a pleasant surprise.

After the first day of stripping slates, John acknowledged that fewer slates were serviceable than the visual inspection suggested. He said we could continue with the original plan, but he couldn't be sure how long the roof would remain serviceable. He illustrated his concern by tapping a just-usable slate with a hammer. A heavy hailstone could hit that hard. A dull thud and the slate crumbled. Or I could opt for 18 x 12 inch recycled Penrhyn slate at extra cost. When a craftsman says Plan A won't work, and gives you Plan B at a manageable margin more, you are a fool not to take Plan B.

The job was finished promptly and six months late John and Jake, his off-sider, returned to finish the job, including re-crafting a replica of the houndstooth signature pattern on the front, south facing roof. According to John, this pattern was the signature of a master slater, name unknown, who worked the northern suburbs of Melbourne in the last decades of the 19th century. This roof is the only example of his work, west of the Moonee Ponds Creek.

I have only one regret. When I am gone, some lard-arsed developer is going to see past the craftsmanship and history of this late Victorian cottage and see only the three or four claustrophobic townhouses, they could shoehorn onto the block.

John and his team were very professional and communicated well throughout the whole job. We are extremely pleased with the great craftsmanship for an excellent result. Already we have had many positive comments from both neighbours a passers-by. I would highly recommend John and his team.

John and his team came promptly to inspect our roof and provide advice for repair after we had some storm damage. They then replaced our colorbond and original slate roof in two stages, fixing our urgent repair quickly despite their busy schedule. They took care around our property and were a pleasure to deal with, highly recommend.

We have used Abardeen Roof Slating and Tiling exclusively for all our slate installations on numerous projects from large and small, commercial and domestic for over 30 years and have always found John and his team to be diligent in their work and have always completed jobs on time meeting our clients requirements

John and his team carried out an excellent job refurbishing our slate roof. Once COVID-19 restrictions were eased they completed the extensive work quickly as per John’s quote. We are happy to recommend Abardeen Roof Slating and Tiling.
David Turton

John was a pleasure to deal with, very professional, great workmanship. He suggested I speak to ex customers and view his work. I was very impressed with his workship, and our slate roof is testament to that.

John Spinner is an excellent craftsman. Quite some years ago he fixed a problem that we had with the roof and verandah of a commercial property we own. He succeeded where two other roofers had failed abysmally. In fact one tradie made the problem worse. John fixed it and it hasn’t leaked since. He attributed his success to techniques he’d learned from his old teacher and mentor.

We also have a Victorian house with a slate roof. John recently repaired a leak that developed after a very heavy storm. You can rely on John to arrive when stated, work neatly and complete his work to an excellent standard. John also has an amazing knowledge of slate. He can identify which type and mine the slates come from which is great for the purposes of matching when repairing.

Abardeen Roofing completed the roof on the first house that we built. We are now building again and didn’t hesitate to call on John and his team to complete the slate roof. Great workmanship, couldn’t be happier.

AVENEL Jubilee Park Committee were very happy with the slate roof repair John did on our 150 year old heritage building. He was very approachable and knowledgeable during the time with us and dealt with our questions in a professional and friendly manner. We would highly recommend John and Arbardeen Roof Slating to advise and complete any slate roof work and will be employing him again.

John and the team at Abardeen did a great job in replacing an old corrugated iron roof with a fantastic looking new slate roof. All completed in a few weeks and done with care and craftsmanship!

It was a pleasure to deal with John and his team. The were extremely professional and caused no disruption to our home life whilst going about their job. They also completed the job within the time they allocated and at the conclusion of the job left the work site clean. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to replace or repair a slate roof!

Neat professional finish to all slate tile work.
Very pleased with prompt service and easy communication.
Gladly recommend John for future works.

Luke

This company put a new slate roof on my home. They did a great job. Highly recommend their service and skills.

John and his team did a great job in inspecting and restoring our slate roof. They were very efficient and helpful and I would thoroughly recommend using utilising their slate roofing expertise.

I've had my fair share of dealing with tradesman particularly whilst renovating a period style home & it is refreshing when one stands out! I can highly recommend John for his professionalism, honesty, integrity & above all his workmanship, knowledge & expertise. His entire team in fact are wonderful. Thank you!

We have the highest opinion of Abardeen roof slating. John Spinner gave our old slate and iron roof a new lease of life. He kept all the visible areas in slate, after replacing the old battens. The valleys and other surfaces he replaced with new galvanized iron, and renewed all the cappings and flashings. He started straight away, and worked carefully and safely. He did a thorough cleanup at the end, and left us photographs of his work. His quote was competitive. He was pleasant to communicate with. We have no hesitation in recommending him and Abardeen.

Excellent job. Very happy with end result and process to get the job done. Also very happy every day it rains knowing we have the right roof finish.