How do I look after a new driveway?

The first few weeks matter most on the surfaces that cure. New tarmac stays soft while it cools and hardens over the following weeks, so avoid turning wheels on the spot, parking on stands or jacks, and leaving anything heavy standing on it in hot weather. Concrete wants several days before a car and considerably longer before full strength. Resin bound needs its cure period respected — usually a day for foot traffic and a few days for vehicles.

On block paving, expect the joints to want topping up. Some sand settles and washes out in the first rain, and a top-up brushed in and vibrated a few months after laying is normal rather than a sign anything is wrong. After that, joints want checking every year or two and topping up when they look low — full joints are what keep the drive tight.

Drainage is the maintenance that actually prevents problems. Channel drain gratings lift out and want clearing twice a year, before the leaves fall and afterwards. Gullies want checking. On a permeable drive, keeping silt, soil and mulch off the surface is the thing that keeps it draining — a permeable drive that has silted up has quietly stopped being permeable, which matters legally as well as practically.

Spills are worth acting on immediately, particularly on porous surfaces and tarmac. Absorb a fuel or oil spill with cat litter or sand before washing it — washing first spreads it and drives it deeper. On tarmac it is more than a stain: fuel and oil dissolve the bitumen, so a persistent leak will soften and destroy the patch it sits on.

A few things not to do. Do not use salt for de-icing on new concrete, mortar or imprinted work — it attacks the surface and corrodes any reinforcement it reaches. Do not pressure wash a new drive; it does not need it, and on block paving it will strip joints that are still bedding in. And do not seal anything until the surface has been down long enough — imprinted concrete and new sandstone in particular want to be fully dry and settled first.