Appear to have a failing garage lintel evidenced by the cracks forming at the corners of the garage and the noticeable bow.

Any ideas where to start? Do I need to get a structural engineer, any firms that specialize in repairing? Any ideas on cost?

Location and pics may help. Single or double door opening? Floor above or just roof framing? Could be the beam in the wall or the lintel itself supporting the brick veneer.

Located in Austin county. Double garage door. There is some living space above the garage. No other foundation issues with the house so I don't think it's that. Will try to get pictures later but typical staircase cracks in mortor from the corners of the garage. Also noticed a crack right in the middle as well in the mortar.

I wouldn't be surprised if that corner has sunk a bit pulling or bowing the lintel. I'd stick a level on that corner if you can.

A slab-on-grade foundation's West corner's supporting soils may sink in minor droughts = masonry cracks, etc as described.
1. you may dig out a deep flower bed at sinking corners, replace with compost/etc fill, compact & water deeply
2. get a structural engineer to test & advise
3. call Anchor Foundations for a wide budget guess then a visit

Lintels aka headers bowing in center used to be a common problem locally until the Building Inspectors began to adopt eng/arch specs in wood framing (or flitch beams).
Either learn what loads is carries above or assume ALL possible loads are bearing on it.
1. maybe there's room to jackup to level+ then sister a properly designed beam to it, calculated by the lumber co PSL supplier in HOU
2. maybe an engineer can design something steel plate to sister to it
3. the lumber co's top framer ref might be experienced enough to Guess what to sister to it

"Ten Word or Less" sigh - still working on it

Here's some photos. I feel confident there's an issue to address, just not sure the best place/person to start.


https://imgur.com/a/SQ4VHoB

Looks more like thermal expansion cracks. There should have been some expansion joints at either end of the opening.

I dunno. That's a pretty big sag.

Undersized beam going across the opening?

Possibly. I can't tell how much sag from the pics. I would think you would get some cracking in the middle if that were the issue. The corners crack due to expansion of the brick and steel across the opening. The lintel can warp from being restrained also. But it is all speculation without being there.
A structural engineer can give you an opinion. Possibly a foundation company.

I've seen some pretty big deflection on garage doors without cracking in the middle, though those cracks on the end do seem to be expansion related.

Just wonder if they threw up a double 2x10 to span that gap

There is a crack in the middle although not as substantial as those corner cracks

Then a structural engineer would be your best choice.

There like, 150 bricks there. Any steel lentil properly secured should be able to handle that.Im thinking it's the header, can you check it from inside the garage?

You can involve an engineer if you like, but most reputable masons should be able to handle that.

The header behind doesn't do anything for the lintel other than keep it in plane with the face of the house, I'm guessing the lintel is undersized. And yes, there should have been expansion joints at the ends of the lintel cut into the masonry.