Websites for paving contractors.

Drive on it after about two to three days, and keep it clear for longer in a hot spell. Asphalt cures by cooling and hardening over months, not hours, so for the first summer avoid parking in the same spot for days, keep motorcycle and trailer jack stands off it without a plate underneath, and do not turn the wheels of a parked car. Most early damage we see is power steering scuffs in the first weeks.

It depends entirely on the base. If the surface is worn and cracked but the driveway is stable, level and drains, an overlay is good value. If there are potholes, alligator cracking, soft spots or areas that hold water, the base has failed and an overlay will telegraph every one of those problems through within a couple of years. We will tell you which one you have, and we will say so even when the cheaper answer is the right one.

Not for the first season — new asphalt needs time to cure and sealing it early traps oils and can leave it soft. After that, roughly every two to four years, and only when the surface actually needs it. Sealing every single year is a marketing schedule, not a maintenance one, and thick built-up layers of sealer crack and peel on their own.

Water and frost. Water enters through cracks and edges, saturates the granular base, then freezes and lifts. That is why base depth, compaction and drainage matter more than the asphalt on top, and why a driveway that ponds water always fails first at the puddle. Filling cracks early is the cheapest maintenance in this trade.

Roughly late spring through fall. Hot mix has to be laid and rolled while it is hot enough to compact, so cold ground and cold air shorten the working window dramatically and late-season pours risk poor compaction. We would rather schedule you first thing next season than lay a driveway in November that will not compact properly.

No. That pitch is the oldest driveway scam there is — leftover material is usually cold, thin and rolled straight over the existing surface, there is no base work, and the crew is gone by the time it fails. Deal with a company that has an address, gives you a written quote stating base depth and thickness, and carries insurance you can verify.