Taking off Gutter Helmet: will it leave holes in your shingles, and how to seal them

Gutter Helmet is a solid aluminum hood that sits on brackets attached to the gutter. Gutter Helmet of Minnesota, a dealer, says its crews mount the back edge of the panel under the first course of existing shingles at roof pitch. A Colorado dealer, Around the House Home Solutions, says its installers go under or over the shingles depending on the roof and use a poly-butyl sealant. A panel bedded that way may not slide out cleanly.

Whether you end up with holes depends on how your run went on. If the panel only slips under the shingles and fastens to the gutter, taking it out mostly means breaking the seal strip on the tabs you lift. If anyone drove screws through the shingles to hold it, each screw leaves a hole that needs a patch.

GAF says in technical bulletin TAB-R-113 that gutter covers put on by professional installers almost never affect the roofing maker's warranty. It tells owners to avoid covers whose instructions call for fasteners through the shingle, removing and replacing shingles, removing drip edge or going under the underlayment. GAF's warranty covers shingle defects only, not the cover or damage from installing it.

For the holes, builder and columnist Tim Carter of Ask the Builder patches from underneath: lift the shingle, put a small dab of asphalt roof cement over the hole, press a folded square of 15-pound felt into it and lay the shingle back down, with more cement beneath the bottom edge if it won't sit flat. Cement left exposed on the surface breaks down in sunlight, he warns, so cover any that shows with loose granules. Lift shingles on a warm day with a wide flat bar, because cold ones crack.