Meet the Los Angeles Team Behind Seedling ADU Los Angeles
We’re a local crew of builders, problem-solvers, and former garage-tinkerers who happen to think every lot in Los Angeles has more potential than it’s currently using. Some of us came up doing kitchen remodels in Echo Park, others spent years on prefab assembly lines before landing here. What ties us together is pretty simple: we treat your backyard ADU like it’s a home someone will actually live in, because it is. The people below are the ones you’ll see walking your property line, checking your setback, and answering your calls at 9pm when you’re worried about a footing inspection.
Our People
Ben Ortega, Owner
Ben started building ADUs in Los Angeles because he kept seeing the same problem on every block: great lots, outdated garages, and families with no room to grow. He’s the one who walks every site before a written price ever lands in your hands. Ben has a habit of checking concrete weather windows before he’ll schedule a pour, and he’ll tell you straight when a permit office is backed up and what that actually means for your timeline. He lives in Northeast LA and still gets a little too excited about a clean truss layout. His rule on every project is the same: if it’s not done right, Seedling makes it right, in writing.
Marcus J., Lead Technician
Marcus has been with Seedling for six years and has framed everything from a 400-square-foot studio over a garage in Mar Vista to a two-bedroom prefab set in the San Fernando Valley. He’s our lead on structural work, which means he’s the one checking anchor bolts, shear walls, and sill plates before anyone calls for a framing inspection. Marcus is certified in forklift operation and prefab module setting, and he’s the reason our Abodu and Cover placements come out level on the first try. He’s a quiet guy on site, but he’ll always flag a foundation crease he doesn’t like before it becomes a problem. Off the clock, he restores vintage motorcycles and swears Echo Park has the best breakfast burritos in the city.
Dana R., Senior Installer
Dana came to Seedling after five years with a modular housing manufacturer, so she knows prefab systems from the inside out. She leads our Dvele and Mighty Buildings installs, handles interior finish work, and is the one who makes sure every seam, corner, and window flashing looks like it was planned, not improvised. Dana holds a lead safety certification for pre-1978 homes and has deep experience with James Hardie siding installation. She’s precise about the details, including the order of operations on multi-trade days, because she’s seen what happens when drywall shows up before the electrical rough-in is signed off. When she’s not on a build, she’s training for the LA Marathon. Her crew always knows when race week is coming.
Elena V., Service Coordinator
Elena is the voice on the phone when you call Seedling, and she’s been keeping our Los Angeles projects moving for four years. She schedules inspections, tracks material deliveries, and keeps homeowners updated on what to expect every week of the build. Elena knows the permit process at LADBS well enough to tell you whether a Tuesday submittal or a Friday submittal will get reviewed faster, and she’ll actually follow up when she says she will. She’s the reason our crews show up when they’re supposed to and why you won’t be left wondering what happens next. Elena lives in Highland Park, has two rescue dogs, and keeps a spreadsheet of every taco stand worth visiting within a mile of our job sites.
One Standard, Every Job
We work as one crew, not four people doing four different things. That means Marcus checks the foundation before Dana starts finish work, Elena schedules inspections so they land when the site is actually ready, and Ben walks the project at the end to make sure the whole thing measures up to what we promised. The Cedarwell Care Promise applies on every build: shoe covers and drop cloths inside your home, pet-safe products wherever there’s a choice, and a photo of the clean-up before the crew leaves each day. We know your kids are napping, your dog is nervous about strangers, and your floors were just refinished. So we work quietly near bedrooms, keep doors closed when we need to, and treat your house like it’s still yours during construction, because it is. And when the build is done, the 365-Day Done Right Promise is what protects you. If something isn’t right, we come back and make it right. No fine print, no argument.
Written by Ben Ortega, Owner at Seedling ADU Los Angeles, serving Los Angeles and surrounding communities.
