What to do with a brand-new driveway.

New asphalt, week by week

Day 1: foot traffic is fine. Keep vehicles off.

After 48 hours: you can park on it in normal conditions. In hot weather give it longer — the surface stays pliable while ambient temperatures are high.

First two weeks: avoid parking in exactly the same spot every day, and turn the wheel while the car is moving rather than stationary. Power-steering a parked car twists the surface and leaves scuff marks.

First summer: keep concentrated point loads off it entirely — motorcycle kickstands, trailer jacks, jack stands, ladder feet. Anything that puts significant weight on a few square centimetres will leave a permanent dent.

Six to twelve months: then seal it, not before. Sealing uncured asphalt traps oils that are still working out and leaves a soft, tacky surface.

New interlock, the shorter list

Keep off the surface for 24 hours after the polymeric sand is watered in, and keep it dry through that window. Rain during the cure is the one thing that ruins a jointing job.

After that it is immediately usable at full strength. There is no curing period the way there is with asphalt.

Expect some efflorescence — white powdery staining — in the first year or two. It is mineral salts leaving the concrete, it is not a defect, and it weathers off on its own.

Marks that are normal, and marks that are not

Tire scuffs and slight depressions in the first hot season are normal on asphalt and largely self-heal as the surface consolidates.

What is not normal: cracking within the first three years, an area that flexes underfoot, or water pooling that was not there on handover. Those are base or grading issues and they should be raised with whoever built it.