Daniel started Essig Renovation & Design in 2011 after a blessedly short stint working in an office. Essig began with a couple hundred dollars, one Chevy Prism, one brave skilled crew member, a well-used tool box, a dash of ambition, and eight years of experience in carpentry and contracting. Dan studied business management at Geneva College with the intent of starting a business. His experience with carpentry/contracting began in ninth grade when he built his first solo second-story deck. Today, Dan brings 15+ years of carpentry experience and a strong desire to care for the communities in Essig’s spheres of influence. Dan is committed to caring for Essig’s customers, crews, trade partners, city, and suppliers in the most equitable, fair, and generous way possible. Dan’s spare time generally is filled with spending time with his wife, Kate, and son, Atticus, along with some combination of high fantasy novels, sci-fi, movies, Star Wars, strategic board games, cheese, exploring secret places, hockey, beer, and liège waffles.

Kate was there from the beginning, helping Dan start ER&D soon after getting married, with her initial role being background support. In 2013, she began working in the day-to-day operations of the business. As the bookkeeping manager, she also handles website design & development. She has learned so many new things from this venture and enjoys working alongside her husband Dan and her dad. A lot of her other time is spent gardening, watercolor painting, exploring, and most of all raising their three boys.

Brayden is a recent addition to the ERD team, having joined us in March 2023. With his diverse background and skill set, he brings a unique perspective to our projects. Brayden holds an Associate of Science degree in Computer Information Systems, which has equipped him with a solid foundation in technology. His expertise in this field enables him to approach complex problems with a methodical and analytical mindset, finding efficient solutions for our clients. Before joining our team, Brayden owned and operated his own contracting company, where he honed his entrepreneurial and leadership skills. Beyond his professional pursuits, Brayden is also an accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. In addition to his technical and athletic endeavors, Brayden has a deep passion for architecture. He appreciates the artistry and functionality of well-designed spaces and stays up to date with the latest trends and innovations in the field.

Courtney was born and raised all over the US and Germany. She has lived in 36 homes and has plans to make Pittsburgh her permanent home with her cat Mittens. Courtney values her home library, theatre, all arts and sports. She is a die hard Detroit fan, yes even the Lions. Though she can found at most Pirate’s home games.

Joseph joined the ERD team in the summer of 2022. With a masters degree in Interior Architecture from Chatham University, he has 10+ years of experience designing and coordination the built environment. Joseph’s passion for design fuels his client-focused approach to developing spaces that inspire and elevate beyond the expected. In his free time, Joseph enjoys traveling, the arts, pc gaming, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Raised just west of Pittsburgh in Steubenville, Ohio, Christopher spent the last 20 years in Chicago where he earned his BFA in Interior Design. He is dedicated and passionate about providing both functional and stylish spaces for his clients. In his free time, Chris enjoys baking, cooking, tv/movies, theater, urban exploring, as well as being a dedicated cat and plant dad.

John grew up in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains on an urban farm in Los Angeles. He moved to PGH in 2008 and has been fixing houses there ever since. He enjoys bungalows, expensive coffee, and building chicken coops in his spare time.

Bio coming soon

Terry has worked for Essig Renovation & Design since 2015 as the shop manager. His days are filled with many activities, including buying and delivering materials to job sites, gathering information from prospective clients to schedule appointments, organize and maintain our warehouse inventory and occasionally checking on other properties we own. Just prior to working for ERD, he spent 5 years as the marketing director for the Southpointe Chamber of Commerce and property evaluator for Noble Real Estate. Gardening, birding, and tinkering are some of his hobbies.

As a site foreman for ER&D, Judah has been in construction field for roughly 25 years. He does a little bit of everything. He prefers carpentry overall. Outside of work he is pretty much just a nerd and a beer snob.

Kevin is a carpenter and foreman at Essig Renovation. Since he can remember, he’s loved designing and building. Being an outdoorsman he was always been drawn to the natural. He began his career as a maker working with leather. In 2013 Kevin and his wife started their own leather goods company where he focused his energy before moving onto urban tree pittsburgh where he apprenticed under wood workers artists and architects until being approached by Dan and jumping at the chance to further his skills.

Raised as a woodworker in Baltimore, Alex is a recent transplant to Pittsburgh with an eye for attention and a drive to evolve. He has many years of ‘custom fabrication to specification’ experience in his home state and a few more years working in the highest end of San Fransisco. By night, he enjoys writing music and picking up new hobbies.

Jon has been working at ER&D since the beginning and full time since 2013. He enjoys making renovation dreams come true, particularly when those dreams include creative design and gutsy building goals. You may see his eyes well up a bit upon the completion of a big job that achieves a timeless aesthetic. Jon’s expertise lies in the areas of kitchens, bathrooms, electrical work, porches and decks and his pursuit is the soul of the Pittsburgh home. He enjoys camping with his expecting wife Kate and climbing mountains.

Sussi was born in Sweden where she went to school for welding and worked several years as an iron workers, doing both structural steel work and more decorating railiing and stairs. She rebuilt her own house from scratch where she learned a lot of basics in structural and finishing woodwork. She moved to Pittsburgh in 2017 with her husband and started getting more into residential remodeling and got a job with Essig in 2018. She worked at various different projects until she became site supervisor and eventually foreman. During her 3 years as a foreman she’s led several sized projects from smaller interior remodels to bigger exterior framing, but her main focus has been on master bathroom/suites.

Sara hails from Youngstown, Ohio where she first tried her hand at home renovation with her father in 1992. After leaving the nest and a 10 year career as a hairstylist while living in New York City and Providence, she made her way back to the Steel City for a revamp. She has been doing contracting work since 2019 and working with the Essig crew since February 2021. Sara’s fortes are tiling, flooring, and drywall mudding. Off the clock, she enjoys camping in her 1992 Chevy G20 van, riding motorcycles, getting tattoos, and urban exploration.

Jason has been working for ER&D since January 2021. He came to work with Essig having a basic understanding of carpentry from his work doing home renovations with his family but wanting to advance his skills and understanding. His hope is to merge his background in ministry, passion for hospitality, and love for renewing things by becoming a landlord and setting up a retreat house for pastoral care. Dan’s gracious flexibility and interest in training people who are new to the field has been a huge blessing to Jason and his family.

Nate joined ERD in April 2021, starting up the Handyman Division in conjunction with Dan Essig. He is detail oriented, which was reinforced during his time in the military. He thoroughly enjoys applying this outlook to handyman work. When he’s not busy fixing things, Nate enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters, camping, and cycling.

Jon’s road to Essig has been a long and circuitous one. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in Communications and then moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a career in film. After freelancing for 3 years he decided to find steadier work and took a job managing the custodians at a small Christian school while going back to school for a Masters of Education. He worked at two different school districts as a substitute teacher until Covid reared its ugly head. Originally he reached out to Dan for work as a backup plan. But after spending a summer working to bring beauty into messy and broken down buildings, he decided he had finally found his calling. Along the way he met his gorgeous, incomparable wife and together they have a beautiful baby girl. He enjoys playing DnD, writing stories, playing basketball and video games, and great food. It’s been a few years since that summer and his excitement for making something that was forgotten, out of use, or out of date into something new and beautiful hasn’t changed. He’s already looking forward to the next challenge!

Matt was born and raised in California and recently moved to Pittsburgh with his lovely finance Carlie. He’s new to the construction industry and has loved working and learning a new trade with the Essig family. He’s really into the whole process from demo to painting the final touches and everything in between. Matt loves rock n’ roll, skateboarding and relaxing after work by binge-watching his favorite T.V. show of all time: The Simpsons!

Jake has worked for ER&D for over 5 years. With over 15 total years of experience, he currently works as an assistant foreman in the company. His main skills are painting, framing, flooring, and maintaining the jobsite… with experience in finish carpentry, cabinetry, mudding and tile.

Born and raised on the North Side of Pittsburgh, TJ has been working with Essig Renovation since November 2021. He is new to the carpentry field, but is determined to learn and grow as much as he can in the field. In his spare time TJ enjoys writing and staying active.

Seb was born and raised in Morningside in Pittsburgh. He has loved cars and working with his hands since he was very young. Aside from carpentry, his main passion is building and driving cars. He loves to play drums and write music when time allows.