How Long Before You Can Drive on New Concrete? A Tablelands Guide

Short answer: keep cars off a new driveway for about a week, and keep anything heavy off it for around a month. Here is the why, and what changes on the Tablelands.

The first 24 to 48 hours

Fresh concrete is still setting. You can usually walk on it after a day, but keep bikes, wheelbarrows and anything with a hard edge off it. Any load that leaves a mark now is there for good.

Days 3 to 7: light vehicles

By about a week, a standard residential slab has typically gained enough strength for a car or ute. Drive straight on and off rather than turning the wheels while stationary, and keep to the middle of the slab rather than the edges, which are the last part to gain strength.

Around 28 days: full strength

Concrete keeps curing well beyond the first week and is generally rated at its design strength at 28 days. That is when trailers, caravans, tractors and any machinery can go on without worry. If the slab is a shed floor or a farm hardstand built for machinery, treat the four week mark as the real opening day.

Why the Tablelands changes the timeline

Two things up here work against a clean cure:

• Heat. Warm, dry days pull moisture out of the surface faster than the inside cures, which can cause surface cracking. Keeping the slab damp or covered for the first few days slows that down.
• The wet season. Heavy rain on concrete that is only hours old can wash the surface and leave it weak and dusty. That is why pour timing matters between November and April, and why a good concreter watches the radar as closely as the mix.

Signs you moved too early

Tyre marks that do not wash off, hairline cracks running from the edges, or a corner that has lifted slightly. If you see any of those in the first fortnight, get the concreter back before it gets worse.

The simple rule

Walk on it after a day. Drive on it after a week. Load it up after a month. If in doubt, wait longer: concrete forgives patience and punishes hurry.

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