Metro Detroit has an unusual concentration of local historic districts, and permanent lighting sits on the wrong side of a line most homeowners do not know exists. It is fastened to the building, which makes it an exterior alteration rather than a holiday decoration. In several of the neighborhoods where these systems look best, that means paperwork before anyone touches a ladder.
The certificate you may need first
Detroit's Historic District Commission requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior changes to properties inside a local historic district, and the list of what counts is broader than most people expect. Painting, windows, doors, roofing and landscaping all fall under it. Anything permanently fastened to the exterior is reviewable, including work not visible from the street.
If you are in Boston-Edison, Indian Village, West Village, Palmer Woods or one of the other designated districts, the sequence is: application to the commission, review, certificate, then permit. Grosse Pointe and Birmingham operate their own review processes with their own standards.
This is not usually a refusal. Colour-matched track is close to invisible in daylight, which is precisely the argument that satisfies a preservation review. But an installer who tells you no permission is needed because the lights come off is describing a different product. These do not come off.
Brick changes what you color-match to
Metro Detroit's housing stock is heavy on brick colonials, brick ranches and brick Tudors, and brick is the one exterior material you should never try to match track to.
The track does not run on the brick. It runs on the fascia, the soffit and the trim, which on most Detroit homes is white, cream, black or a painted aluminum wrap. That is what the color-match is for, and it is why a system on a red brick house disappears in daylight just as completely as one on a stucco house. Homeowners talk themselves out of permanent lighting because they picture a channel bolted across their brickwork. That is not where it goes.
Black fascia in particular, which has taken over metro Detroit renovations over the last decade, is the easiest surface there is to hide hardware against.
What it costs
US installed pricing sits at roughly $16 to $38 per linear foot depending on the hardware tier, with most homeowners paying $2,500 to $6,000 for a complete system.
Detroit-area pricing tends to be more predictable than the coasts because the housing stock is more consistent. A two-storey colonial in Royal Oak, Ferndale or Rochester Hills carries a fairly standard front elevation. Grosse Pointe and Bloomfield Hills are the exception, where frontage and roof complexity push the total well up.
Price follows linear footage of roofline, not square footage of house. A sprawling ranch can carry more track than a taller colonial with a smaller footprint.
Salt, spray and the sealing standard
Michigan uses a lot of road salt, and homes on arterial roads take airborne salt spray all winter. Combine that with a season spent crossing zero rather than staying below it and you have the two conditions that finish off cheap outdoor fixtures: corrosion at the contacts, and meltwater working into any gap, freezing, and widening it.
The number that matters is the ingress rating. IP68 means continuous immersion, not splash resistance. It is the difference between a system that is still running in year 12 and one you are pulling down in year four. There is a fuller explanation of freeze-thaw damage that applies to Michigan for the same reasons it applies across the border.
The part nobody puts in the brochure
The reason most metro Detroit customers give for buying is not Christmas. It is that they are done climbing a ladder onto an icy roof in late November, and done paying a crew several hundred dollars a season to do the same thing.
Between holidays the same fixtures run warm white every ordinary night, or scheduled security lighting from sunset to sunrise, or Honolulu blue on a Sunday in the fall. It is one install and then an app.
Across the metro
Detroit, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe, Troy, Rochester Hills, Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Canton, Dearborn, Livonia and Ann Arbor.
Common questions
Do I need historic district approval for permanent lighting in Detroit?
If your property is inside a local historic district, yes. Detroit's Historic District Commission requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior changes, and permanent lighting is fastened to the building rather than hung seasonally, so it is treated as an alteration. Grosse Pointe and Birmingham run their own review processes. Approval is rarely refused, but get it before paying a deposit.
Can permanent lights be color-matched to a brick house?
The track does not mount on brick. It mounts on the fascia, soffit or trim, so it is matched to that surface rather than the brickwork. On a white, cream or black trimmed brick colonial the hardware is close to invisible in daylight.
How much does permanent outdoor lighting cost in metro Detroit?
Roughly $16 to $38 per linear foot installed depending on hardware tier, with most homeowners between $2,500 and $6,000. Standard Royal Oak or Rochester Hills colonials tend to sit mid-range; Grosse Pointe and Bloomfield Hills frontages push higher. Cost follows roofline footage, not house square footage.
Keep reading
Luminair systems in the United States are installed by independent Luminair dealers rather than by our own crews. Send your address through the quote form and we will tell you who covers your area, or point you to the nearest crew taking work.