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Give your driveway at least 24 to 48 hours to dry. After 72 hours, you can walk or park on it, but tread lightly. It might look solid, but it’s still soft and can be easily damaged. It can take 30 days to a year for an asphalt driveway to fully cure, so avoid parking extremely heavy vehicles on it. For the best results, always check with your contractor for their advice. Different mixes and weather conditions can affect curing times, so it’s worth waiting longer if it means a driveway that lasts.

Building a road on a slope requires careful planning and will normally require a drainage system underneath to prevent flooding and damage to the road over time. Your professional may lengthen your road to create switchbacks if the slope directly to your home is too steep, as there are regulations for maximum road slope. The drainage system will help prevent runoff from the higher side of the slope from damaging the asphalt or concrete. Keep in mind that building a road on a slope isn’t a good DIY project, as a lot can go wrong.

Think of the street as a way to capture all the elements on either side of the road, including the road—a street encompasses the homes or other buildings, the trees, and the road of a given area as defined by the beginning and end of the street on a map. A roadway, however, is the component of the street where cars travel.

Gravel is one of the few driveway materials that can handle rain the second it’s installed. Unlike asphalt, which needs days to set, or concrete, which requires weeks to cure, gravel is ready as soon as it’s compacted. It’s naturally permeable, allowing water to drain straight through—with no risk of pooling or surface damage. Gravel driveways are one of the most affordable, at $1 to $3 per square foot, and can also last upward of 100 years.