Gutter Helmet Systems by Harry Helmet

Gutter Helmut did a good job of installing my gutter system the first time a couple years ago. In November, 2015 I decided to have the upper boards replaced with Asek PVC due to repetitive carpenter bee damage. It took multiple scheduling to get a crew out only to have them argue with me that the work needed to be done. I was outraged. A second crew was dispatched several days later at my insistence only to have them partially complete the work by nightfall in the dead of winter (January) just as a storm was hitting. They covered the house with tarp and left boards in my garage partially sticking out. Although I tried to close the garage just above the materials, the door came down on the materials damaging the door and costing $ 400 for repair. I requested 50% from Gutter Helmet due to partial responsibility and got no reply. After a great deal of aggravation, multiple missed appointments, waiting all day and not knowing if they were coming or not and then having additional expense, the work was finally completed.

They installed on the scheduled date and did what was agreed upon. They also provided additional pricing to complete the entire gutter when I can.

3Stars, A-​OK so far!
We live in a very wooded neighborhood of Columbia, MD and our gutters constantly would get clogged with leaves or pollen/​seeds. In addition, there were a few places where the rainwater would be rushing between the wood of the house and the back of the gutter. We thought we’d also need gutter aprons to fix that, but learned that the Gutter Helmet would help with the clogging problem and the water behind the gutter problem all at once.
The salesman was nice. He was not pushy, which I really appreciated. There were no tactics to try and pressure you to purchase that very day. I explained we first had to get some exterior work done and would schedule the gutter work after the other exterior work was completed. The timing worked out great.
So, now we’ve had the Gutter Helmet installed for about a month so far. I’ve read all the fine print thoroughly and understand that with the first 30 – 60 days there is/​could be an oily film on the Gutter Helmets that cause it to not work to its highest potential at first. So I’m keeping this in mind while I’ve seen several leaves slide right into that small gap to enter my gutter system. It’s obviously nowhere near the amount to get in without them, but I know with these few getting in, they might not flush out unless we have a super-​heavy rainfall. Instead, they’ll just plaster down to the floor of the gutter and be stuck there.
It is true that these blend in nicely. They come in a few colors. We have brown for our brown Cedar house. Also, I really like that they re-​position your existing gutters so that they are at a slight incline (rather than perfectly level) to help water flow towards the downspouts.
I plan to update this review after more time has passed and once we’ve endured heavy rainfalls and even snow. I plan to go outside and see it in action during a heavy rain. Hopefully, I can give it a couple more stars for the update!
Important Note: Be sure you read the warranty carefully! First, once installed, NEVER place ladders against your gutter system again. If the ladder damages the Gutter Helmet, this will be on your dime to fix. So be sure you watch any contractors you hire for future roof work. They will need to either use an A-​frame ladder, a ladder with stabilizers, or place the ladder against a side of the house where there is no gutter system.
Second, be sure you actually register for your warranty online. It doesn’t automatically come into effect.
Third, be sure you read about how the warranty transfers to the new owner of the home if you sell. That, too, is not automatic. It involves an inspection and a fee.
Also, know that they are not 100% worry-​free. Everything requires care. It’s minimal, but once in a while you might have to lightly power-​wash the Gutter Helmets to remove caked-​on pollen and debris. Easy enough!

For anyone considering installing this product:
1) Reconsider.
2) Take a normal sized branch and bang on the sample they show you. It will damage the helmet easily. This will render it useless and you will have to pay for reinstallation. Consider that. No branches where you live? Perfect! (Note: A gutter without a helmet will still collect water and will not be useless after a branch falling on it.)
3) Take dated/​timed photos of every worker (and of yourself) when your roof is touched so you have proof that the Helmet system was not mis-​handled.
4) Your gutters and roof STILL NEED TO BE CLEANED even with this system. Helmet Gutter’s contract says that they will do it for you. Make them. Or try to (see other reviews of how hard it is to contact this company.)
5) Know that no damage caused to your house by the system failing will be covered by Helmet Gutter.
My experience:
In 2005, I got Gutter Helmet specifically because of three spots in my gutters that leaked. They came out, said, «No problem,» realigned the gutters (part of the contract), installed gutters, and left. These spots leaked during the very first rain after they installed the gutter helmets. I had them come back out. The company worked on the spots, saying that the first people from Gutter Helmet hadn’t given the gutters enough «fall.» The spots continued to leak. I had them come back out two more times. Apparently these third and fourth visits weren’t even recorded (not that they did anything much besides clean off the roof and apply a bit of caulk).
I had someone come out today, and he told me that the leaks were all my fault because I had obviously allowed people to lean ladders against the gutters, which bent the helmets. Um, no. The spots that were bent down were on top of the gutter helmet and not reachable by a ladder. Plus the roofers I did have work on my roof used the same type ladder he showed me he had. I didn’t bother telling him this, though, because he would have come up with some other excuse. I did offer that limbs might have fallen on the gutters. I had a huge tree that recently stood near the house. Nope. All my fault. He was insistent. Limbs couldn’t do that sort of damage. Really? Really?!? The angle certainly suggested something from above. And by the way, there were way more dings on the side closest to where the tree used to be. Nope. Mr. Helmet knew his sh*t. Bullsh*t, in my opinion, but who am I to question…
When I pointed to the lack of fall in the gutters (the gutters literally go uphill against what is supposed to be the flow of water in spots), he again said it was my fault. He also wanted to know why I hadn’t had them out more often. I wanted to tell him it was because their coming out hadn’t improved anything. Then, of course, the obvious question would be, «Why do you want Gutter Helmet to try to fix things, now?» That’s a question I couldn’t answer. Pathetic hope, perhaps?
Anyway, he told me it would cost $ 495 to fix the problems – approximately half the cost of installing the gutter helmets the first time.
I have just handed over $ 100 deposit toward this $ 495. I am beyond furious, and truly not certain that I’m not throwing good money after bad. I made sure to put this on my American Express so that if the job isn’t done correctly this time, I can get my money back. I am going to make them test the gutters by hosing down the roof from every angle possible and seeing what happens. I am also going to make them come out at least every three months to clean off leaves and debris to make sure they don’t blame me for not keeping the roof clean (which I kept clean on my own, before), and to make sure they don’t blame me for using the wrong ladder.
You want to blame me? Fine. You get to do everything yourself. Congratulations for arguing yourself into being my daily maintenance men. If there’s a bloody dust bunny up there, you’re going to be taking your ladder up there to remove it.
And as soon as it leaks, I will be in your office, making sure you honor your commitment to fix what’s broken or refund my money.

I am having serious problems with helmets its self and company. I call and leave messages, no one calls back. When initially I called gutter helmet to come and unblock my gutters, some one came and cleaned them. But didn’t tell me that I was missing helmet from my porch, they just cleaned gutter and left. Now my gutter on my porch is blocked and causing damage, and gutter which is on patio (Back yard) has helmet, is still blocked and damaging patio. When I called, I was told that I don’t have helmet on my porch because I didn’t want it installed on porch. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Now I am scheduled in august for some one to come and look at it. Mean while my patio and porch will continue getting damaged.
I think its better not to have these helmets on gutter, at least I will not have to through this frustration and, when ever I need gutter cleaning, I can call some one to come and clean my gutters.
My brother just bought a house and he was going to get these gutter helmet installed, I had to stop him.

Absolutely perfect from first meeting to the installation. The salesman Royce was very knowledgeable. I wasn’t even home for the install and they cleaned up so well, if I hadn’t known they were coming, I wouldn’t have even known they had been there. We have too many trees to have the gutters cleaned every couple months. In fact, a neighbor just told me she saw that we had them installed and she contacted them to get them for her own home. We had a hard rain and I could tell the gutters were working properly – no leaking and the run-​off was directed away from the house.

We heard great things about the Gutter Helmet system and called Harry Helmet who is the dealer in our area. The sales process was terrific… very educational. We got a quote on the spot and our system was installed days later. When we saw a small issue with one of our downspouts, they were over within days to fix it. Terrific experience all around!

Gutter Helmet is the best value out of all the other companies I looked at.

I recently had a gutter helmet installed on my townhouse. We are backed up to the woods so it made sense for us. Harry helmet did an outstanding job on putting on the system. Before installation, they came over and showed me a product demonstration. I was able to feel the quality of the material they used. I could tell this design was made extremely well. The salesman, Marty was very thorough and knowledgeable. They were able to install very quickly as promised. Very good customer service. They kept in contact with me from day one.
We have been very impressed with this system. The water used to flo over and cause flooding but now it just drains through the down spout and the leaves just fall over the gutters. We don’t have to worry about cleaning our gutters anymore.
I would definitely recommend using Harry helmet for a long term fix. Everything was done professionally.

End to end the company managed it’s own distribution and installation. They quickly contacted me about my online query, coordinated a product demonstration, through the whole process they kept in contact via email to let me know that the installation was scheduled and they installed the Gutter Helmet exactly as described.
So far everything has worked as promised. They Gutter Helmet is catching then rain from 2 — 3 heavy storms and it looks like all the debris has been redirected away from the gutters. I specifically liked the quality of the product, being a heavy aluminum with bracing to support the product from age, snow, etc;. The DIY product that I replaced and other add-​on products were all too flimsy. The last product that I replaced bent after the first heavy snow and ice storm. I trust that this product will stand-​up to its name and multi-​year company history. If not, I have a life time warranty.

Product looks great. Didn’t get done until the 4^th appointment. One legitimately delayed due to weather, the other two before they completed who knows. When I called after 3^rd appt. I was told they had made the appt and were done. Hello? I think I can see what’s on my own house. Asked for a supervisor to call back, instead we got a call to «reschedule».
One small section was missed (about 2.5′) and when we called them on it they rescheduled, then sent us a $ 105 bill to finish what they didn’t complete. They claimed the estimater made a mistake (and that is my problem why?).
Very unlikely I would recommend or do business again, not because of the product but the sloppy office procedures and what I feel are bait and switch billing practices.
Update: The franchise owner contacted me after this posted. While he could not go back and undo the past, he did void the additional invoice which was appreciated. He offered that they had staffing issues this spring/​summer that have since been resolved. I won’t do business again, but I won’t keep dissing them either. ;-)