Mark the Crack, Write the Date: Manlius Walls and Steps
There is a test you can run for nothing that says whether a crack needs a mason or a tube of flexible sealant.
Retaining Walls and Steps quote in Manlius
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The free test for a cracked Manlius wall
Before you pay anybody to look at a crack in a retaining wall, a set of steps or a foundation, run the test yourself. Mark each end of the crack with a pencil, write the date beside it, and look again after the season turns. The federal guidance on brick masonry says thermal cracks are normally cyclical and will open and close with the season, growing wider in cold weather and narrower in hot, and that active cracks should be sealed with a flexible sealant while inactive cracks may simply be pointed. Two months of patience sorts most of them.
What retaining walls and steps involves
Active, inactive, or still growing
Three outcomes and three different bills. A crack that opens in the cold and closes in the warm is active and thermal, and it wants a flexible sealant rather than mortar, because mortar in a moving joint cracks again. A crack that has not moved at all is inactive and can be pointed like any other joint. And a crack that only ever grows is neither, and that is the one worth looking at now. Monthly means here run from 23.6 degrees in January to 71.3 in July, so the seasonal swing this test relies on is large and dependable.
The published test is monitoring over time
The National Park Service says thermal cracks are normally cyclical and will open and close with the season, wider in cold weather and narrower in hot, advises monitoring over a period of time to see whether a crack is active, and states that active cracks should be sealed with a flexible sealant while inactive cracks may be pointed.
The local swing is big enough for the test to work
Normal monthly mean temperatures at Syracuse run 23.6 degrees in January, 34.2 in March, 57.6 in May and 71.3 in July, with daily minima below 40 degrees in every month from October through April. A pencil mark in August and another look in January spans nearly 50 degrees of mean temperature.
Most of this town is young enough that cracks are the normal question
The Town of Manlius has 14,524 units with a median build year of 1972, and the village 2,070 with a median of 1968 and half of it built across the 1960s and 1970s. On stock that age, movement and drainage are the usual subjects rather than historic compatibility.
What the guidance says about a crack that moves
On thermal cracking the National Park Service states that although masonry can deform elastically over long periods to accommodate small amounts of movement, large movements normally cause cracking, and that thermal cracks are normally cyclical and will open and close with the season, growing wider in cold weather and narrower in hot weather. It advises monitoring such cracks over a period of time to see whether they are active, and states that active cracks should be sealed with a flexible sealant while inactive cracks may be pointed.
Source: National Park Service, Common Problems with Brick Masonry, accessed 2026-09-10
The normal monthly mean temperatures at Syracuse are 23.6 degrees Fahrenheit in January, 25.9 in February, 34.2 in March, 46.9 in April, 57.6 in May, 66.7 in June, 71.3 in July, 69.8 in August, 62.0 in September, 50.6 in October, 40.6 in November and 29.4 in December. Normal daily minima stay below 40 degrees in every month from October through April.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 1991-2020 US Climate Normals, station USW00014771 Syracuse Hancock International Airport, accessed 2026-09-10
The Town of Manlius has 14,524 housing units with a median year of construction of 1972, a pre-1940 share of 11.2 percent and 22.3 percent built between 1940 and 1959. Manlius village inside it has 2,070 units, a median of 1968, a pre-1940 share of 10.5 percent and 50.9 percent built in the 1960s and 1970s. Fayetteville village has 2,092 units, a median of 1961, a pre-1940 share of 20.7 percent, 26.8 percent built between 1940 and 1959 and 77.2 percent built before 1980.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 Year Structure Built and table B25035 Median Year Structure Built, accessed 2026-09-10
Has the crack moved since you first saw it?
Mark it, date it, then send the Manlius address with what you see. That answer changes the price.
Other Manlius masonry at ground level
Cracks and walls: what Manlius owners ask
How long do I need to watch a crack before I know?
Long enough for the weather to change materially, which around here means summer into winter or the other way. The guidance describes thermal cracks as cyclical, wider in cold weather and narrower in hot, and recommends monitoring over a period of time to establish whether a crack is active. With monthly means running from 23.6 degrees in January to 71.3 in July, a pencil mark in August and another look in January is a genuine test rather than a stalling tactic.
Our retaining wall has a crack and a slight lean. Same question?
No, and the lean is the one that matters. A crack can be monitored. A lean means soil and water behind the wall are pushing it forward, and that does not reverse with the seasons. Photograph the wall along its length against something vertical so the lean is measurable, mark the crack while you are out there, and send both. Those two answers together tell us whether you have a monitoring job or a rebuild.
Get a Manlius crack judged rather than sold
A crack that opens in winter, a wall leaning, steps pulling away: describe it with the address. If it can wait, we will say so.