A Pacific Northwest studio of nine.
Architect-led, owner-built, finished on the date we promised.
Cinder & Pine began with a 1920s Craftsman in Ballard and a single sentence: what if the people who designed it were the people who built it? Fourteen years later we remain a studio of nine — one architect, one super, seven builders — and the conviction that a renovation should leave a house quieter than it found it.
We take on ten projects a year. We finish them on time, 94% of the time. The other 6% we tell you about the day we know, and never charge for the delay. That's the whole pitch.
Studs to finish. Walls moved, mechanicals replaced, the house re-drawn around the way you actually live.
Custom cabinetry, stone tops, plumbing relocations, the door that should always have been there. Drawn for your morning, not a magazine.
Heated floors as a default. Plaster, tadelakt, brass. Curbless showers and a window that opens. Small rooms, held attentively.
A suite over the garage. A studio off the back. New space that reads as if the house had always grown that way — same pitch, same line.
Detached living for guests, parents, or rental income. We handle the Seattle DPD process, the drawings, and the build — start to permit to certificate of occupancy.
Cedar, ipé, or composite. Covered porches that turn a rainy month into a livable one. Built to outlast the next owner of the house.
Scroll slowly through the right column. The image on the left changes as we move through the six stages of your renovation — from the first walk-through to the day we leave a key on the kitchen counter.
A two-hour walk through the house — owners, architect, super. We measure, we photograph, we ask a lot of questions and let you do most of the talking. No charge, no obligation.
Our in-house architect draws three options, each one a different argument with the house. We meet twice, narrow to one, and refine in 1:50 plans and elevations until you can walk the rooms in your head.
Permits filed with Seattle DPD. Subcontractors locked in. A line-itemed estimate — allowance budgets called out, change-order policy in plain English, a calendar with real dates. You sign once and the price holds.
Selective, careful, never violent. Plaster preserved where possible, original baseboards labelled and stored, the house photographed at every stage. When demo is done you'll know precisely what was there before — and what's worth saving.
Framing, rough-in, drywall, finishes. One superintendent on-site every morning. Weekly owner walkthroughs, weekly photo log emailed, a live shared budget you can open at any hour. The site stays swept; the work stays quiet.
A final walk-through. A binder with every paint code, every fixture, every warranty. A jar of touch-up paint by the door. We come back at month twelve, unannounced, and again any time the house calls. The renovation ends; the relationship doesn't.
Five answers in writing — so the first call can be about your house instead.
Bathrooms 3 — 6 weeks, kitchens 8 — 13 weeks, additions 4 — 9 months, whole-home 6 — 14 months, ADUs 6 — 10 months. We deliver a real calendar with your estimate and finish 94% of projects on or before the date promised.
In greater Seattle, 2026: kitchens from $95k, bathrooms from $48k, additions from $475/sf, whole-home from $525/sf, ADUs from $275k. Honest starting points; real numbers come from a thirty-minute walk-through.
Yes. Our principal architect, Ines Bertelsen, leads every project. We also work alongside outside architects we know well — Olson Kundig, mw|works, SHED. The choice is yours.
Kitchens and baths, usually yes — we set up a temporary kitchen. Additions, sometimes. Whole-home, almost never — for your own sanity. We can help arrange short-term housing nearby.
Spring 2026 is fully booked. Fall 2026 has two slots remaining as of today. Smaller kitchens and baths can sometimes slot in sooner — call and ask.
Two hours, in your house, with the architect who would draw it and the superintendent who would build it. Free. No pressure. The house is doing most of the talking.
