Natural slate is quarried stone, split and hung. Seventy-five to a hundred and fifty years is not marketing — there are slate roofs on working buildings older than that, and the usual reason one is replaced is that the fixings failed rather than the slate.
It is the heaviest common roofing material and the most expensive, and it demands an installer who has done it before. A slate roof laid badly fails quickly and expensively.
It is also the only material on this list where the honest advice is often to repair rather than replace: if the slate is sound and the underlayment has gone, lifting and relaying is a fraction of a new roof.
Weight matters here. This material runs several times the weight of asphalt per square. Before it goes on, the roof frame has to be checked and may need reinforcing — that is a structural cost the estimator cannot see and does not include.
The trade-off, honestly
What it gives you
- 75 to 150 year life
- Completely non-combustible
- Unmatched appearance
- Often repairable rather than replaceable
What it costs you
- The heaviest option — structural work is common
- Highest cost per square
- Few crews can install it properly
You click. We climb. Deal?
Tell us what you need and we will handle the rest. No ladders required on your part.
