A face cord and a rick are two names for the same 42.7 ft³ stack. Enter a quantity to confirm it, and see what it is worth in cords.
Two sellers, two units, two species. Price per cord is not enough — oak carries nearly twice the heat of white pine. This compares dollars per MMBtu (one million British Thermal Units — a fixed unit of heat, not a brand or a volume).
"Face cord" is the most common informal term in firewood listings across the Northeast and Great Lakes states. It names only the face of the stack — 4 ft high, 8 ft long — and says nothing about how deep it goes. A rick names the same stack: 42.7 ft³ on a 4 ft × 8 ft face at a 16 in depth. The ratio between them is 1, which makes this page less a conversion than a translation.
Nothing about the wood changes across this conversion — only the county you are buying in. A buyer who moves from Michigan to Missouri meets the same 4 ft × 8 ft face under a new word, and the risk is assuming the new word implies a new size. It does not. What still varies, in both regions equally, is the cut depth.
A seller quotes 3 face cords; a neighbour quotes 3 ricks. Both are 128 ft³ — the same 1 of a cord. Whichever is cheaper is cheaper on price alone, not because one unit is bigger.
Common log lengths against a 4 ft × 8 ft face. Your pair is highlighted.
| Sold as | Stack | Cubic feet | Cords | Defined by law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Bush cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Stove cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Rick, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 12″ cut | 4 × 8 × 12″ | 32 | 0.250 | No |
| Cubic feet (1) | Any | 1 | 0.00781 | n/a |
Within a region, rarely — sellers use whichever term their customers use. Across regions the two words describe an identical stack, so a quote in one converts to the other at 1:1 with no adjustment.
Whichever one they used in the ad. Switching vocabulary mid-conversation invites confusion over quantity; instead, ask for the cut length in inches and the price, which mean the same thing in every region.
Yes. Both describe a stack of 42.7 cubic feet, so the conversion is 1:1 and the number you enter is the number you get back. "Rick" is the Midwestern and Southern name for the same 4 ft × 8 ft face, common in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The word comes from ricking — the old term for stacking hay or wood in the open.
Regional habit, mostly. "Face cord" is the most common informal term in firewood listings across the Northeast and Great Lakes states. It names only the face of the stack — 4 ft high, 8 ft long — and says nothing about how deep it goes. The wood is identical; the vocabulary travels with the seller.
It does. Neither term is defined in statute, so an inspector has nothing to enforce against either one. Get the cut length in the ad or the invoice. "Face cord" without a number beside it is not a quantity.