While the economy has been down the past couple of years, Chas Moscarino continued to grow his company. Moscarino is the President of landscape company Moscarino Landscape + Design.

“We’ve been aggressive,” he says. “Through the down economy, we’ve turned up our marketing and got more aggressive with sales and hired more salespeople. A lot of people were laying off their help, and we were taking the best talent we could find.”

Hiring Additional Employees

He looks at it as a long-term investment for the company, because he feels that people are one of his biggest assets and keys to success.

“If we could get quality people in a down economy, we were going to take that and make it work,” he says. “They came in knowing the expectations that if they stuck it out, they’d be rewarded for it. They’re starting to see it now, especially with the growth.”

It’s All About Taking a Risk

On top of hiring new talent, Moscarino just got done building a new facility last year. As you can imagine, this was a big task to take on. He wasn’t sure if he was making the right move. Thankfully, after consulting with his CPA and a consultant who works with the company, they decided to take the risk. It is already paying off.

“You have to take risk,” he says. “You have to take calculated risks. Make sure you look through all the pros and cons before you make a decision, but at the end of the day, you have to take that risk.”

What The Future Holds

As he looks toward the future, he anticipates hiring more talent and people who have knowledge of the industry. In addition to this, he wants to build another branch in the next three years. Increasing the company’s marketing efforts every year is another goal.

“We track everything and have a niche for what works for us,” Moscarino says. “A lot of the companies completely cut out the marketing, and we turned it up, and that made a huge difference in our sales.”

You can begin the process of completing your backyard makeover by calling Moscarino Landscape + Design, at 440-236-9000.

There are a number of benefits to using interlocking pavers as opposed to other methods:

• A vast variety of paving styles
• Unlimited color possibilities
• Create your own design
• Low cost, little maintenance
• 50 year + life expectancy
• No cracking
• 3 times stronger than poured concrete

Design Flexibility

The many shapes, patterns, and colors of concrete pavers allow for design creativity, as well as delineation of pavement areas, such as parking lanes, cross walks, and intersections. The beauty of interlocking pavers adds value and visual appeal to any property. By adding flexibility not possible with rigid pavement, pavers can flow with existing landscaping to deliver beauty to any property. Also, when considering maintenance and replacement costs, pavers offer an economically long-term alternative to other types of pavement

Winter Durability And Snow Removal

Snow can be plowed, blown or shoveled just like asphalt or concrete pavements. The (beveled) edge of pavers will prevent you from catching an edge with the plow or shovel. Using de-icing products like salt or calcium chloride will not harm or pit the pavers. Electric or liquid snow-melting systems work well under concrete pavers, eliminating snow removal while reducing slip hazards. Smooth surface allows for easy snow removal. Pavers can be colored dark to help melt snow faster. Snow-melt systems can be installed to eliminate snow and ice removal. Concrete pavers resist deterioration of freezing and thawing cycles and deicing salts, better than asphalt and ordinary concrete.

Versatility

Pavers can be applied in both residential and commercial settings, including surface coverings for driveways, parking lots, promenades, sidewalks, pool decks, patios, streets, golf cart paths and even roof gardens. Interlocking concrete pavers are a sensible and aesthetically attractive choice for all outdoor surfaces.

Safety

On both vehicular and pedestrian applications pavers have a non-skid surface even when the pavers are wet they are safe to walk or drive a vehicle over them.

Paver Strength

Concrete pavers are extremely dense units which possess exceptional strength and durability, superior stability under severe loads, and are unaffected by the extremes of heat and frost. Each unit has joints that allow for a small amount of movement without cracking. Factory made pavers last for decades.

Manufactured to tight dimensional tolerances, pavers are stronger than regular poured concrete surfaces and more durable than black asphalt. They can take more abuse and last for generations. A segmental paving system allows for expansion and contraction without producing surface cracks, unlike monolithic concrete surfaces and stamped concrete.

Maintenance

Stained or broken pavers can be easily replaced without patches. Asphalt, concrete, and stamped concrete can’t make this claim. Dark colored pavers can help hide stains. Pavers can be repaired by lifting the affected area, re-grading, re-compacting the base and bedding sand and re-installing the same pavers. It is an inexpensive procedure that leaves no unsightly repair patches.
Pavers are easy to maintain. Regular sweeping and occasional rinsing are usually the most maintenance needed. For heavy soiling, pressure washing with appropriate clearing solutions (re-sanding of joints will be necessary) (See Polymeric Sand) or a simple spot treatment with a brush, cleaner, water and some elbow grease will solve the problem.