All I notice is a dog sitting in the middle of the driveway. You're going to have to make him move if you expect to park a car there! I hope the asphalt crew didn't get lazy and just pave around him - I hope he's not stuck there! Cool dog, I like him.

OK on a more serious note..........the reason you may notice an uneven surface is because the ground may not have been perfectly smooth before they laid the asphalt on top of it. As long as they compacted the ground good enough, you shouldn't have any problems. You will have to wait for it to rain and see if you get any puddling - I guess if you get some big puddles, you may want to get the paving contractor to fix them. In the winter, those puddles will be patches of ice.

Thanks for your reply. No major puddling during rain. Grade is still pretty good. I suspect they poured the asphalt by hand and the only machine they used was to roll it. Would that be bad? Is it done that way sometimes for residential jobs?

They typically use a spreader that gets it out even and to the correct depth. Then it's rolled. One of the most important steps similar to concrete is the prep. Compacting the soil underneath and adding a base if neccessary all compacted before the "pour".

Prep work was done. New base. Compacted nicely. I hope I'm okay.

So is hand spreading the asphalt okay? No seams anyway!

Hand spreading might be the issue with the rippling effect. By your picture, you can see where the points that are elevated higher are compacted tighter than the lower. Is this an issue? I can't say and I guess only time will tell but you ought to inquire with your asphalt contractor and address your concerns with them. If they are concerned with their reputation and it is a problem other than astetics, they should make it right. Out here you want to put a topper/sealer on every so often but that wouldn't fill the voids in your case. Perhaps they can level out a cap or veneer over the existing to level it all out.

Thanks sierraeast. You hit the nail on the head. The higher spots are compacted tighter than the lower. I will contact the contractor. I sure hope that doesn't effect the structure.