Concrete doesn't dry — it cures, gaining strength through a chemical reaction that runs hard for the first week and keeps going for about a month. What happens in that window sets up how the slab performs for decades.
The timeline
24–48 hours: foot traffic is fine. Keep pets off for the first day (paw prints are forever). About 7 days: vehicles can park on a driveway; heavy furniture can move onto a patio. About 28 days: full design strength — hold off on anything extreme (dumpsters, heavy trailers) until then.
The first year
Skip de-icing salts the first winter — new concrete is most vulnerable to salt scaling in year one, and magnesium/calcium chloride products are gentler than rock salt ever after. Sand is the safe traction answer in the first season.
Rinse it a few times a year, and clean spills (oil, leaf tannins, rust) sooner rather than later. Sealing broom-finish flatwork is optional but helpful; stamped and colored work should be resealed every few years to hold its color — we'll tell you the schedule for your finish.
About hairline cracks
A tight hairline crack inside or alongside a control joint is the system working — the joint doing its job of steering shrinkage. What deserves a call: cracks that widen, offset vertically, or run through the middle of a panel far from any joint. We'd rather look at a photo early than a problem late.