Plain, unadorned mass concrete, straight from the mixer, levelled, compacted and floated to a smooth finish is a simple, cost-effective and highly useful surface for paving, for shed and garage bases, for driveways and dozens of other uses. This page considers how it is used and what is needed to ensure a successful finish.

Reinforcement is used to strengthen concrete, to give it incredible load bearing capacity, and extend its life. This page looks at the more popular types of reinforcement used with concrete for paving and surfacing, including mesh, rebar and poly-fibres.

It's advisable to incorporate some form of movement joint within larger concrete slabs, particularly those 6m x 6m in plan or larger. This page looks at the options.

All concrete pours need to be contained, to hold the concrete in place until it hardens sufficiently to hold its own shape. This page looks at the ways and means of containing the fresh concrete, keeping it where it needs to be until it hardens. This is known as shuttering or formwork.