# Brick Cracks & Sticking Doors | Nashville Foundation Repair > How to interpret stair-step brick cracks, lintel separation, and sticking doors, what to record, and the next step toward an evaluation. URL: https://foundationrepairnashville.net/guide/brick-cracks-and-sticking-doors/ Last-Modified: 2026-09-16 Homeowner Guide # Brick Cracks and Sticking Doors How to interpret stair-step brick cracks, lintel separation, and sticking doors, what to record, and the next step toward an evaluation. Published September 16, 2026 · 5 min read ![Stair-step crack in brick veneer near a garage door header on a Middle Tennessee home](/images/featured/stair-step-crack-in-brick-veneer-near-a-garage-doo.webp) ## Exterior and interior clues usually arrive together Brick veneer is a good movement indicator. It is rigid, it is brittle, and it shows differential movement clearly as cracking along the weakest path — the mortar joints. Doors and windows are the interior version of the same instrument. A door hangs in a frame that assumes the opening stays square. When the structure moves, the opening racks, and the door tells you. When both appear in the same part of the house over the same period, they are usually describing the same event. ![Interior door binding against its jamb with an uneven gap at the top corner](/images/content/interior-door-binding-against-its-jamb-in-a-lived-.webp) ## Reading stair-step cracking A stair-step crack runs diagonally through brick veneer by stepping along the horizontal and vertical mortar joints. It follows mortar because mortar is weaker than brick. Its direction carries information. The crack generally widens toward the settling side, so a stair-step crack that opens wider at the bottom near a corner suggests that corner has dropped relative to the rest of the wall. One that opens wider at the top suggests the opposite. Location matters too. These cracks concentrate at points of stress: outside corners, garage openings, the junction where a one-storey section meets a two-storey section, and above windows. ## Lintel separation Above a garage door or wide window, a steel lintel carries the brick. Two things commonly show there. The veneer settles with the structure, opening a horizontal separation under the lintel. Or the steel lintel itself corrodes, and because rusting steel expands, it lifts the masonry above and cracks it. The second one is a masonry maintenance issue rather than a foundation issue, and telling them apart matters before anyone proposes piers. ## Why doors and windows bind Two entirely different mechanisms produce the same complaint. Humidity swells wood. In a Middle Tennessee July, doors and jambs take on moisture and the door binds at the top or along the latch edge. In February it closes cleanly again. This is ordinary and requires no foundation work. Structural movement racks the opening. The gap between door and jamb becomes visibly uneven — tight at one corner, wide at the diagonal opposite. Binding persists regardless of season, and it usually worsens rather than cycling. Our guide on sticking doors: humidity versus settlement [/guide/sticking-doors-humidity-vs-settlement/ →](/guide/sticking-doors-humidity-vs-settlement/) sets out the checks that distinguish them. ## What to record Photograph each crack with a tape measure or coin in frame. Note where it is on the house, using a landmark you will recognise later. Record the widest point. Mark the end of the crack with a pencil and date the mark. Cracks travel, and a dated mark is the cheapest progression record available. For doors, note which corner is tight, whether the gap is uneven, and what month it is. Check the same door in the opposite season. Photograph the full elevation as well as the close-up, so an evaluator can see where the crack sits relative to openings and corners. ## What these signs do not prove A stair-step crack does not confirm that piers are needed. Brick veneer is a cladding, not a structural element, and it cracks in response to relatively modest differential movement. Some of what it reports is historic movement that stopped years ago. Nor does it identify a cause. Settlement at a corner can come from consolidating fill, from washout caused by a downspout, from clay shrinking through a dry summer, or from a footing bearing on inconsistent material. Those have different remedies and very different costs. ## The next step Record what you see, then have it measured. A foundation evaluation [/foundation-evaluation/ →](/foundation-evaluation/) maps relative floor elevations inside, characterises the exterior cracking, and walks the perimeter to see where water is going. If the elevation readings are essentially flat and the crack is hairline and old, the honest finding is monitoring. If the readings show a consistent fall toward the cracked corner, you have a structural conversation — and now you have numbers to have it with. ## Want this checked on your own property? General guidance only goes so far. An on-site evaluation records the accessible conditions at your property and puts the findings in writing. Request a Foundation Repair Quote [/request-quote/ →](/request-quote/) ## Related Guides ### Basement Wall Cracks: How to Read Them Before You Worry How to interpret basement wall cracks — vertical, horizontal, stair-step — what to measure, and when water rather than structure is the real story. [Basement Wall Cracks: How to Read Them Before You Worry →](/guide/basement-wall-cracks/) ### Bowing or Leaning Basement Walls: What Inward Movement Means What causes basement walls to bow or lean, how to spot progression, and when monitoring rather than stabilization is appropriate. [Bowing or Leaning Basement Walls: What Inward Movement Means →](/guide/bowing-or-leaning-basement-walls/) ### Buying or Selling a Home After Foundation Repair A guide for buyers and sellers reviewing foundation repair records — documentation to request, transferable warranties, and disclosure considerations. [Buying or Selling a Home After Foundation Repair →](/guide/buying-or-selling-after-foundation-repair/) ### Comparing Foundation Repair Quotes: A Homeowner's Checklist A practical checklist for evaluating competing foundation repair proposals — scope, quantities, exclusions, permits, warranty, and payment terms. [Comparing Foundation Repair Quotes: A Homeowner's Checklist →](/guide/comparing-repair-quotes/) Guide FAQ ## Questions About This Topic Why do doors stick in some seasons only? Seasonal humidity swells wooden doors and jambs, so binding that eases in drier months usually points to moisture rather than movement. Consistent year-round sticking is more likely structural. Are stair-step brick cracks serious? They can indicate differential settlement, but severity depends on width, progression, and location. A hairline stair-step crack that has looked the same for a decade is a very different finding from one that opened last winter. What is a lintel crack? Separation above a window or garage opening where the steel lintel supporting the veneer has deflected, corroded and expanded, or where the masonry above has settled with the structure below. ### Still have a question? Describe what you're noticing and we'll tell you what it usually means and what the next step is. Request a Foundation Repair Quote [/request-quote/ →](/request-quote/)