Where should I park while the driveway cures?

Somewhere the car can stay for 24 to 48 hours — on the street or a neighbor’s driveway, not in the garage. A car left in the garage is stuck there until the driveway can take traffic again.

Can my family and pets use the driveway on the day?

Not for the first 4 to 6 hours. Fresh sealer sticks to shoes and paws and gets tracked indoors. Plan another way in and out of the house until it can take foot traffic.

Do I need to be home when my driveway is sealcoated?

Short answer

Applying the coating does not physically need you there. What it does need is an empty driveway, your cars parked where they can stay for 24 to 48 hours, and a way for the contractor to reach you if a question comes up. Confirm the specifics with whoever is doing the work.

Answered by Sean McCullough, owner of FGG Sealcoating · Serving Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Chester County, Pennsylvania

What actually needs arranging

Being home matters less than having things ready before the work starts:

An empty driveway. Every vehicle and every object off the asphalt. The coating cannot go under a car or a planter.
Cars parked out, not in. Vehicles stay off a new coat for 24 to 48 hours. If they are in the garage when work starts, they are in the garage until it cures.
A way to reach you. Questions come up on the day — a stain that turns out to be deeper than it looked, a crack that runs under a step. Being reachable by phone lets them get answered on the spot.
A dry forecast. Rain within 24 hours can damage a fresh coat, so the work day depends on the weather. Expect the date to be weather-dependent.

After the coating goes down

The driveway is off-limits on foot for 4 to 6 hours and to cars for 24 to 48. If the only way into the house is across the driveway, plan around that. The full timings are in how long before I can drive on it?