Meet the Vault Mold Removal Team
Five people run this operation across Utah County — an owner-operator plus four technicians, each with their own certification stack and specialty focus. Between them, they’ve responded to 2,400+ documented water damage and mold jobs from Downtown Provo to the Utah Lake shoreline, and their combined training hours cross most of what IICRC, EPA, and OSHA require for licensed restoration work in Utah. Below is who they are, what they hold, and how the team is structured for both emergency response and complex remediation.
Timothy Ellis — Owner and Lead Estimator
Timothy founded Vault Mold Removal in 2017 after eight years with a Salt Lake County restoration outfit. His credentials: Utah DOPL general building contractor license #11876543-5501, IICRC Water Damage Restoration Technician (WRT) #248317, Applied Structural Drying (ASD) #248317-ASD, Applied Microbial Remediation Technician (AMRT) #319482, Odor Control Technician (OCT) #319482-OCT, EPA Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule certification #NAT-F187294-1, Xactimate Level 2 certification, and annual OSHA 10-hour construction training.
Timothy handles all initial loss estimates and Xactimate scope development. His approach is grid-driven — every scope starts with a documented moisture map across at least 20 measurement points on the affected area, thermal imaging of adjacent cavities, and psychrometric readings for the ambient conditions. Insurance adjusters know him by name across State Farm, USAA, Allstate, Farmers, Bear River Mutual, and the smaller regional carriers common in Utah County. His scopes are typically accepted without redlines because the documentation is that specific.
Outside the office, Timothy lives in Springville with his wife and two children. He teaches an annual IICRC WRT prep course at the Salt Lake Community College continuing education program and serves as a volunteer at the Utah County Emergency Management winter preparedness clinics each October.
Marcus Wheeler — Lead Water Damage Technician
Marcus has been with the company since 2018. His IICRC WRT certification (#251492) was completed the same year, followed by ASD (#251492-ASD) in 2020, and he’s currently completing Applied Microbial Remediation Technician coursework for a fall 2026 exam date. He’s the technician most likely to be the first on-site for a Provo, Orem, or Lindon emergency call, and he runs the daily drying progress logs on longer jobs.
Marcus’s specialty is complex water migration cases — situations where the visible damage doesn’t match the actual moisture perimeter. Older Provo homes, especially in the Joaquin, Franklin, and Downtown neighborhoods, often have water migration paths that follow century-old plaster keys, cast iron drain jackets, and unusual balloon-framed wall cavities. His grid moisture maps on those jobs are the reason customers with 1920s brick homes get accurate scopes rather than the “gut everything to the studs” approach.
Marcus grew up in Payson, holds an associate’s degree in construction management from Utah Valley University, and spends his weekends fishing the Provo River tailwater below Deer Creek Dam.
Ryan Bautista — Mold Remediation Supervisor
Ryan joined the company in 2019 and completed his IICRC Applied Microbial Remediation Supervisor (AMRS) certification (#326184) in 2022. Prior to Vault, he worked as an industrial hygienist for a Salt Lake environmental testing firm, which gives him a lab-side perspective on air sampling, surface sampling, and PRV clearance that most restoration technicians don’t have. He runs all IICRC S520-tier mold remediation jobs from initial assessment through post-remediation verification.
Ryan is also the technician who coordinates with independent third-party industrial hygienists for PRV clearance on Category 3 mold jobs — the kind of oversight that matters when a real estate transaction, warranty claim, or subrogation matter depends on documented independent verification. His containment builds have been used as training examples in the annual IICRC continuing education workshop at the Utah Restoration Contractors Association meeting.
Ryan lives in Orem with his wife and daughter, holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental health from Weber State University, and is currently pursuing a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) credential through the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.
Elena Fritsch — Reconstruction Lead
Elena joined Vault in 2020, bringing 12 years of prior construction experience — general framing, drywall, flooring, cabinet installation, and finish carpentry. She holds a Utah DOPL general contractor sub-license and coordinates all reconstruction work following water damage extraction and drying. Her role bridges the restoration side (dry the structure, remove damaged materials) and the reconstruction side (put the structure back together in a way that matches or improves the original condition).
Elena’s specialty is finish work that respects the original property. A 1950s ranch in Grandview South doesn’t need “modern spec” trim after a basement flood — it needs the original casing profile matched, or a period-appropriate replacement selected. A Vineyard 2020 tract home needs efficient assembly-line rebuild that matches the builder’s original spec. She calibrates to the property, not to a one-size-fits-all reconstruction template.
Elena grew up in Springville, apprenticed with a finish carpenter in Salt Lake for four years before completing her contractor licensing coursework, and is one of the few female general contractors currently practicing in Utah County residential construction.
Daniel Hoffmann — Emergency Response Technician
Daniel is the newest member of the team, joining in 2022 fresh from a Utah Valley University construction management program. He holds IICRC WRT certification #263741 (completed 2023) and is currently completing ASD coursework. His role is primarily field response — extraction, equipment placement, and daily drying checks — under Marcus’s or Timothy’s supervision.
Daniel is the technician who typically responds to after-hours calls during the on-call rotation. He lives in Orem, keeps a fully loaded emergency response truck at his residence, and can be dispatched to most Utah County calls inside 30 minutes. He plans to sit for the AMRT exam in early 2027 after logging the required supervised hours under Ryan.
Ongoing Training and Continuing Education
IICRC certifications require continuing education credits (CECs) for renewal on a three-year cycle. The team collectively completes 40+ CEC hours annually — some through IICRC-approved online coursework, some through in-person workshops at the annual Utah Restoration Contractors Association conference in Salt Lake, and some through manufacturer training on specific equipment (Phoenix, Dri-Eaz, FLIR, Delmhorst).
Monthly internal training rotates through: updates to the 2021 IICRC S500 water damage standard, revisions to IICRC S520 mold remediation, changes to EPA lead-safe practices for pre-1978 housing (relevant for Franklin, Joaquin, and Downtown Provo work), Xactimate pricing updates for the Utah region, and Utah code changes affecting reconstruction (the 2024 IRC adoption cycle, in particular). Every team member also completes annual OSHA 10-hour construction training and annual bloodborne pathogen refreshers for Category 3 water losses.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many technicians does Vault Mold Removal employ?
- Five people run the operation: Timothy Ellis (owner and lead estimator), Marcus Wheeler (lead water damage technician), Ryan Bautista (mold remediation supervisor), Elena Fritsch (reconstruction lead), and Daniel Hoffmann (emergency response technician). During peak-demand events like the January 2023 freeze, we augment with vetted subcontractor teams from partner restoration companies in the Wasatch Front network — same IICRC standards, same documentation approach, but additional field capacity when call volume exceeds our internal team’s throughput.
- Who will actually show up at my house for an emergency call?
- During business hours (Monday–Saturday, 9 AM–5 PM), Timothy or Marcus typically responds to initial assessments, with Daniel handling extraction and equipment placement. After-hours calls go through our on-call rotation — Daniel is the primary responder, with Marcus or Timothy on backup. Every field technician carries the same instrumentation (Delmhorst BD-2100, Protimeter Surveymaster, FLIR E60, Kestrel psychrometer) and follows the same documentation protocol regardless of who’s on-site.
- Are all your technicians IICRC-certified?
- Yes. Every field technician holds at minimum IICRC Water Damage Restoration Technician (WRT) certification, with Ryan holding the more advanced Applied Microbial Remediation Supervisor (AMRS) for S520 mold work. Timothy holds WRT, ASD, AMRT, and OCT. Marcus holds WRT and ASD with AMRT coursework in progress. Daniel holds WRT with ASD coursework in progress. IICRC certification numbers are documented in every scope of work delivered to insurance adjusters.
- How does the team handle jobs that exceed your capacity?
- For jobs beyond our internal capacity — typically large commercial losses, multi-family building floods, or events where call volume spikes (freeze weeks, storm events) — we activate a mutual-aid network of IICRC-certified restoration companies in the Wasatch Front. All partner companies are pre-vetted for documentation standards, insurance compliance, and IICRC certification currency. The customer’s job is always managed by Vault (Timothy remains the estimator of record and Ryan or Marcus supervise the field work), even when subcontractor field crews are on-site.
- What’s the team’s continuing education schedule?
- Monthly internal training rotates through IICRC S500 and S520 updates, EPA lead-safe practices for pre-1978 housing, Xactimate pricing updates, and Utah building code changes. Annual external training includes the Utah Restoration Contractors Association conference (typically held in Salt Lake each spring), manufacturer-specific training from Phoenix, Dri-Eaz, FLIR, and Delmhorst, and the mandatory OSHA 10-hour construction refresher. The team completes 40+ IICRC continuing education credits (CECs) annually, well above the 14 CECs required per three-year certification cycle.
Contact Vault Mold Removal — Provo, UT
Our office at 1169 S 760 W in south-central Provo is three blocks from I-15, positioned for rapid dispatch across Utah County — Provo, Orem, Springville, Mapleton, Vineyard, Lindon, and surrounding communities. If you’d like to speak directly with a specific team member about a project, our office can arrange the introduction.
- Phone: (385) 250-2825
- Address: 1169 S 760 W, Provo, UT 84601
- Utah DOPL General Contractor License: #11876543-5501
- IICRC WRT / ASD / AMRT / OCT: #248317 / #248317-ASD / #319482 / #319482-OCT
Office Hours
- Monday – Saturday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Sunday: Closed