[brians]

I had a damaged slate roof. Bids to repair it, replacing most of it, were north of $100k. An asphalt roof with 30 year shingles was under $5k. Ten times isn’t enough.

I have a slate roof now, and pay a few hundred a year for replacement of broken skates. For historical-commission reasons, I’m much more likely to do Tesla-style tiles than anything else... and electricity here is 22¢/kWh.

[Retric]

Average cost to replace a 2,000 sf slate roof is ~$30,000. Someone was likely trying to rip you off.

Lifespan is kind of a leading question as many buildings simply are not going to last. Still, the high end for slate is very high. "There is a chapel in England, built during the 8th century, which has one of the oldest slate roofs known. After 1,200 years of service, the moss-covered roof is still in good condition, demonstrating the permanence of the material."

[joshvm]

Is slate particularly popular in the US?

In the UK most tiles are made of clay which are cheap and pretty durable. My neighbourhood is Victorian and I guarantee some of the houses here still have their original tiles. Some towns have slate roofs (e.g. the Lake District), but it's more expensive and a local aesthetic/tradition, more than anything else.

Virtually nobody uses shingle roofs. To give an idea of the historic distribution, which is still pretty accurate: http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/claytile/pic_12...

Replacement prices, for example: https://local.which.co.uk/advice/cost-price-information-roof...

An entire slate roof on a big house is around £12k max. I'm surprised that the difference isn't that much compared to clay, but I imagine most of the cost is labour.

[EADGBE]

Depends on the style of home (Spanish, traditional, modern, etc). I see clay tile, slate, and asphalt mixed in the same neighborhood pretty frequently. Of course, the higher the home value the less likely it's going to have asphalt (or at least asphalt that looks like asphalt).