Face Cord vs Full Cord: How Much Wood Is It?
A full cord is a legal measure of 128 cubic feet. A face cord is a 4 by 8 foot face of whatever piece length the seller cuts, so its volume changes with every load.
Full cord
NIST and the National Conference on Weights and Measures say a cord must equal 128 cubic feet of wood stacked neatly in a row, with pieces touching and parallel and as few gaps as possible. The classic stack is 4 feet high, 4 feet deep and 8 feet long.
Face cord
Utah State University Extension describes a face cord (also called a short cord or rick) as a stack 4 feet high and 8 feet long, as deep as the pieces are long. With pieces of 12 to 18 inches, that's 32 to 48 cubic feet. NIST/NCWM note that terms like "face cord", "rack", "pile" and "truckload" have no legally defined meaning, so ask the seller to state the volume in cords or cubic feet.
How the two compare
| Piece length | Face cord volume | Face cords per full cord |
|---|---|---|
| 12 in | 32.0 cu ft | 4 |
| 16 in | 42.7 cu ft | 3 |
| 18 in | 48.0 cu ft | 2.7 |
| 24 in | 64.0 cu ft | 2 |
So "three face cords" of 16-inch wood equals one full cord, but three face cords of 12-inch wood is only three-quarters of a cord. A full-size pickup with a standard bed, loaded level with the top, holds about half a cord (USU).
Measure your own pile
Enter the length, height and piece length in the firewood cord calculator to get cords and heat content by species, then compare species in the BTU per cord chart.