How old is your garage? Some settling maybe normal if it has been many years since the garage was built. However, we had the same brick cracking with our house that appeared within 2 years of building the house. We had major structural problems and found out the piers under the concrete slab did not go down to solid ground. We found out there was many truckloads of fill dirt brought into the back of the house area where it sloped. No compression law in the state we live in. As the dirt settled, and piers not properly installed, it caused structural problems. If you recently built the garage, I would get an engineer or expert to inspect it.

PPF: All materials have a coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Coefficient of linear thermal expansion for concrete is roughly the same as for iron which is why it (rebar) works well with concrete. Expansion/contraction is significant for long linear surfaces such as the large concrete slab with the crack OPs thread. Though there is a much more to material science, especially concrete and types of concrete, hopefully the following excerpt provides an adequate explanation. THERMAL EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION Materials expand or contract when subjected to changes in temperature. Most materials expand when they are heated, and contract when they are cooled. When free to deform, concrete will expand or contract due to fluctuations in temperature. The size of the concrete structure whether it is a bridge, a highway, or a building does not make it immune to the effects of temperature. The expansion and contraction with changes in temperature occur regardless 0of the structure’s cross-sectional area. Concrete expands slightly as temperature rises and contracts as temperature falls. Temperature changes may be caused by environmental conditions or by cement hydration (the exothermic chemical process in which the cement reacts with the water in a mixture of concrete to create the calcium silicate hydrate binder and other compounds). An average value for the coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete is about 10 millionths per degree Celsius (10x10-6/C), although values ranging from 7 to 12 millionths per degree Celsius have been observed. This amounts to a length change of 1.7 centimeters for every 30.5 meters of concrete subjected to a rise or fall of 38 degrees Celsius. Thermal expansion and contraction of concrete varies primarily with aggregate type (shale, limestone, siliceous gravel, granite), cementitious material content, water cement ratio, temperature range, concrete age, and ambient relative humidity. Of these factors, aggregate type has the greatest influence on the expansion and contraction of concrete. Severe problems develop in massive structures where heat cannot be dissipated. Thermal contraction on the concrete’s surface without a corresponding change in its interior temperature will cause a thermal differential and potentially lead to cracking. Temperature changes that result in shortening will crack concrete members that are held in place or restrained by another part of the structure, internal reinforcement or by the ground. Forexample, a long restrained concrete section is allowed to drop in temperature. As the temperature drops, the concrete tends to shorten, but cannot as it is restrained along its base length. This causes the concrete to be stressed, and eventually crack. Joints are the most effective way to control cracking. If a sizable section of concrete is not provided with properly spaced joints to accommodate temperature movement, the concrete will crack in a regular pattern related to the temperature and restraint directory. Control joints are grooved, formed, or sawed into sidewalks, driveways, pavements, floors, and walls so that cracking will occur in these joints rather than in a random manner. Contraction joints provide for movement in the plane of a slab or wall, and induce cracking caused by thermal shrinkage at preselected locations. One of the most economical methods for making a contraction joint is by simply sawing a continuous cut in the top of the slab with a masonry saw.

Location : Chicago. I saw these two cracks on the outside wall of my house. How do I fix these ? It is not the basement wall.

as a general rule cracks in concrete will happen. I think it's amazing it hasn't cracked in 12 years. they're only concerning if they get wide. drive around and look at some bridges, see how much those have cracked..and they carry semis and are fine. that will make you feel better. :)