Meet the Austin Team Behind Seedling ADU Austin
The crew that shows up to your Austin lot is the same crew that prices your job, walks your site, and answers your calls during the build. No rotating cast. No faceless subcontractors you never see twice. We’re a small, local team led by Ben Ortega, and everyone here has worked on ADUs, garage conversions, and home additions across Austin neighborhoods long enough to know what our soil, our heat, and our permit office actually require. What unites us is simple: we treat your backyard ADU like it’s a new home on your lot, not a shed with drywall. And we write that standard down, every single time.
Our People
Ben Ortega, Owner
Ben started Seedling ADU Austin because he kept seeing the same pattern: families who wanted a second home on their property getting priced out by vague bids and change orders. He does every initial site walk himself, and he’s the one who signs off on the written price before any work starts. Ben spent years on residential framing and foundation crews before moving into ADU-specific work, which means he can tell you in the first ten minutes whether your backyard slope is a $2,000 problem or a $12,000 one. He’s known for walking a lot with a notebook and a tape measure, then sending a line-item price by the next day. When he’s not on site, he’s usually at the Austin permit office or on the phone with a prefab manufacturer trying to get a delivery date to line up with a foundation pour.
Marcus T., Lead Technician
Marcus runs the day-to-day build, which means he’s the person most Austin families see the most. He’s been with Seedling for five years and has led more than 40 garage conversions and ADU builds across the metro, from a tight-lot ADU in Hyde Park to a two-car garage conversion in Round Rock. Marcus holds his OSHA 30 certification and is the one who walks every site at the end of each day checking for trip hazards, securing materials, and taking the clean-up photo before the crew leaves. He’s particular about floor protection; he’s the reason shoe covers and drop cloths are non-negotiable on every Seedling visit, even for a five-minute measurement. Outside work he restores old Honda motorcycles, which he’ll talk about if you ask, but only after the day’s framing is done.
Dana R., Senior Installer
Dana handles finish work and prefab assembly, which means she’s the one who turns a delivered panel system or wall module into something that feels like an actual home. She’s crossed-trained on Abodu, Cover, Dvele, and Plant Prefab assemblies, and she can adjust a door reveal or level a cabinet line without making a homeowner wince. Dana spent eight years in residential remodel before moving to ADUs, and she’s the team’s go-to for tricky transitions: where a new ADU roofline meets an existing house, where old slab meets new framing. She’s also the designated pet-safety person on every build, double-checking that any product with a pet-safe alternative gets used whenever there’s a choice. Her dog, a lab mix named Rooter, has visited more than a few job sites from the truck window.
Jordan P., Service Coordinator
Jordan is the voice on the phone when you call Seedling ADU Austin, and the person who keeps the schedule from colliding with itself. He joined from a custom home builder in East Austin, where he learned that the difference between a calm build and a chaotic one is a daily call log and a shared calendar everyone actually checks. Jordan coordinates material deliveries, building inspections, and subcontractor arrivals, and he’s the reason a live person answers the phone 24/7 throughout your project. He keeps a running note on every job with the family’s preferred quiet hours, which matters when you’re setting a delivery time for a house with a toddler who naps at 1:00. Jordan also handles warranty follow-ups under the 365-Day Done Right Promise, so if something isn’t right after completion, he’s the one scheduling the return visit.
One Standard, Every Job
Every Seedling ADU Austin project, whether it’s a backyard ADU in Mueller, a garage conversion in Crestview, or a home addition in South Austin, runs on the same written commitments. The Cedarwell Care Promise applies to every visit, no exceptions: shoe covers and drop cloths inside the home, pet-safe products where there’s a choice, a photo of the clean-up before the crew leaves, and a live person answering the phone 24/7. The crew works with quiet tools near bedrooms and schedules loud cuts and deliveries outside school hours and nap times whenever they can. Everyone on site is background-checked and uniformed, so families with kids and pets know exactly who’s walking through their door. And every single job gets a written price before work starts, with no surprise line items after crews arrive. It’s not a tiered service model. It’s the only way we work.
Written by Ben Ortega, Owner at Seedling ADU Austin, serving Austin since opening the location.
