Have you just had a new driveway installed? Unfortunately, it’s not quite finished after paving is complete. For optimal results, you need to keep vehicles, people, and pets off your brand new driveway for a while.
Concrete driveways will take around six hours to dry on the surface in a temperate climate, and significantly longer in cooler temperatures. Once it’s dry to the touch, the concrete driveway will likely hold its shape. To be on the safe side and do all you can to gain a driveway that will serve you well for the next decades, avoid walking on it for two days, and don’t drive over it for at least three. Your concrete driveway will take at least a month to dry completely.
Asphalt driveways go through an initial cure that will take between three and five days depending on the weather. During this time, you can walk on your new driveway. It will be safe to drive over your asphalt driveway five days after it was installed, but don’t park on it until two or three weeks have passed.
Be aware that a new asphalt driveway will have to be sealed a couple of months after it was installed.