Ferndale's own plan places the city "between 8 Mile Road, I-75, and I-696", just south of Royal Oak. Roofers Royal Oak takes roof repair and replacement requests from Ferndale and passes each one to a roofing contractor who covers ZIP 48220. Say whether it's a leak, a worn patch or the whole roof.
Three things shape a roofing job in Ferndale: the age of its houses, sewers that carry rainwater and wastewater in the same pipes, and a permit fee that rises with the value of the work. Each is set out below in the city's own words.
Ferndale homes and their roofs
Plan Ferndale, the city's 2022 master land use plan, says: "About 77% of Ferndale's existing housing stock is now 60 years or older." It warns that "the number of homes that will need major rehab will continue to increase". The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey points the same way. The median Ferndale home was built in 1945, and 4,636 of the city's 10,927 homes date from 1939 or earlier. By our arithmetic from those counts, that's 42.4%, and 76.3% of all homes were built before 1960.
On a house that age, the shingles you can see may not be the first roof it has had. Worn decking boards, older layers left in place and attic vents sized for a different era tend to surface once the old roof comes off. Ask the roofer what they expect to find underneath and how decking repairs would be priced if they're needed.
Most homes here are detached houses (77.5% of units, by our arithmetic from the survey), and 66.6% are lived in by their owners. For rented homes, Ferndale runs a rental registration and inspection program through its building services department.
Ferndale's permit and fee rules for a new roof
Ferndale's building services page doesn't single out roofs. It says: "Permit required whether you plan on making home improvements yourself or with the help of a contractor, architect, or construction worker." The building permit application has a "ROOF" box under "TYPE OF IMPROVEMENT" and asks for the contractor's "BUILDERS LICENSE NUMBER" and its expiration date. Applications and inspection requests go through BS&A Online or the Community and Economic Development Department at City Hall, 300 East Nine Mile Road, open "Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m."
The fee schedule for fiscal year 2027, dated July 2026, sets the building permit at "$50 + 1.5% for First $5mil Value, 1.00% thereafter" and adds a "$50" permit administration fee. By our arithmetic, a job valued at $12,000 works out to $50 + (1.5% × $12,000 = $180) = $230, plus the $50 administration fee, for $280 in all. The schedule also has a plan review charge, and it isn't clear whether a re-roof triggers it, so ask the department to confirm the total for your job.
Three more lines in the same schedule bear on a roofing job:
- Contractor registration: "$50" for building and other contractors, charged "Every Year". A roofer who already works in Ferndale may have paid it this year.
- Reinspection: "$75" each time an inspection has to be repeated.
- Work started without a permit: "Double the Permit Fee". The same penalty applies to an undervalued project.
Pulling your own permit in Ferndale
Ferndale lets an owner-occupant take out the permit. Its Homeowner Affidavit covers work on "any part of the above residence including, but not limited to, roofing". The house has to be a single-family home that is, "or will be on completion, my place of residence", and the owner has to live there for six months after the work is done.
The limit is in one line: "I/we will not sub-contract to any other person, firm or corporation for work that is covered by the homeowner's permit(s)." A homeowner's permit is for a roof the owner puts on personally. If you're hiring a roofing contractor, that route doesn't fit, and the permit should come from the contractor. The affidavit also asks the owner to allow inspections "between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday".
A roofer's state license can be checked on the State of Michigan license lookup.
Dumpsters and street parking
If the roll-off for the torn-off shingles will sit in street parking, check the parking section of the fee schedule first. For fiscal 2027 it lists a "Dumpster/Storage Container Placement Application Fee" of "$50.00" and a "Parking Space Use Fee (per space, per day)" of "$22.10", up from $20.80 the year before.
By our arithmetic, if both applied to a container taking up two spaces for four days, the total would be $50 + (2 × 4 × $22.10 = $176.80) = $226.80. Ask the city which fees apply before the dumpster arrives, and agree in the contract whether you or the roofer pays them.
Gutters, downspouts and Ferndale's combined sewers
Plan Ferndale says the city "has a combined stormwater and sewer system", so rain running off roofs and streets ends up in the same pipes as household wastewater. The plan promotes "Disconnected Roof Drains" and rain barrels to keep roof water out of that system. That puts gutters and downspouts squarely in the roof conversation here. While a roofer is on site, ask about the condition of the gutters and where each downspout empties.
Heavy rain has tested those pipes lately. During the April 2–3, 2025 flooding, the National Weather Service's Detroit office recorded a 24-hour total of 3.06 inches at "1 SW Ferndale", with basement flooding reported across Metro Detroit, and it measured 1.45 inches at a Ferndale station on June 18–19, 2025.
Wind has been hard on the city's trees too. On June 12, 2026, the NWS logged that "A large tree and wires were blown down" in Ferndale by thunderstorm winds. On September 3, 2026, during storms that brought "Nearly 300,000 power outages", it posted a "Photo of large tree limb down on fence in Ferndale". After a storm like those, look from the ground for lifted or missing shingles and for gutters packed with leaves before the next rain.
Roof repair and roof replacement in Ferndale
- Roof replacement: tear-off to the decking, new underlayment, ice and water shield, flashing, ventilation and shingles.
- Roof repair: missing or storm-damaged shingles, flashing at chimneys and walls, and cracked pipe boots.
- Roof leak repair: tracing where the water gets in, which is rarely right above the stain.
- Garage roofs: detached garage roofs, and what a garage re-roof involves.
- Ice dams: why they form at the eaves and what fixes them for good.
What a roof costs in Ferndale
Every roof is priced after a roofer has looked at it, because size, pitch, layers to remove and decking repairs make the difference. We publish sourced Royal Oak price ranges, with what makes one roof cost more than another, in the roof replacement cost guide and the roof repair cost guide. They're published guides, not quotes for a Ferndale roof.
Nearby cities
Requests from Ferndale ZIP code 48220 go to a licensed roofing contractor who serves the area. Nearby cities with their own pages:
Common questions
Does Ferndale require a permit for a new roof?
Yes. The city's building services page says a permit is required "whether you plan on making home improvements yourself or with the help of a contractor", and the building permit application lists roofs as a type of improvement.
How is a Ferndale building permit fee worked out?
The FYE27 fee schedule charges $50 plus 1.5% of the job's value (1% above $5 million) and adds a $50 permit administration fee. By our arithmetic, a job valued at $12,000 would be $230 plus $50, or $280. Plan review may also apply, so ask the Community and Economic Development Department to confirm the fee.
Can I pull the permit myself and hire a roofer to do the work?
No. Ferndale's Homeowner Affidavit covers roofing, but the owner signs that they "will not sub-contract to any other person, firm or corporation" for work under the homeowner's permit. When a roofing contractor does the job, the permit should come from the contractor.
What does it cost to park a dumpster in a Ferndale parking space?
The fiscal 2027 fee schedule lists a $50.00 placement application fee for a dumpster or storage container and a parking space use fee of $22.10 per space, per day. Ask the city which fees apply to your container.
Why do gutters and downspouts matter in Ferndale?
Plan Ferndale says the city has a combined stormwater and sewer system, and it promotes disconnected roof drains and rain barrels. Ask the roofer to look at the gutters and where the downspouts empty while the roof is being done.
Where this information comes from
The local rules and figures on this page come from these published pages, checked on September 28, 2026.
- City of Ferndale: Building Services · City page on building permits, BS&A Online and rental registration
- City of Ferndale: building permit application · City form with the roof improvement box
- City of Ferndale: Homeowner Affidavit · City form for homeowner permits
- City of Ferndale: Fee Schedule FYE27 · City fee schedule, July 2026
- City of Ferndale: Plan Ferndale · City master land use plan, 2022, linked from the city's community plans page
- US Census Bureau: ACS 2020–2024, Ferndale · Year built, housing units, tenure and type
- National Weather Service: April 2–3, 2025 flooding · NWS Detroit/Pontiac rainfall totals
- National Weather Service: June 18, 2025 storms · NWS Detroit/Pontiac event summary
- National Weather Service: June 11–12, 2026 storms · NWS Detroit/Pontiac storm reports
- National Weather Service: September 2–3, 2026 storms · NWS Detroit/Pontiac event summary
