Compare the Delivery Terms Before the Firewood Truck Arrives

For a Chicago-area firewood order, compare all-in quotes for the same tightly stacked cubic volume—not just prices attached to terms such as “face cord” or “half.” Specify the complete route from truck to rack, including alleys, gates, stairs, elevators and carry distance. Before delivery, prepare a stable outdoor stack that is raised from the ground, ventilated at the sides and covered on top. Treat arranging logs inside a fireplace as a separate, appliance-specific task.

A1 Country Firewood vs. Trees R Us: the quick comparison

A1 advertises coverage throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Trees R Us advertises service across the North Shore and Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs. Their published terms use different quantity definitions and stacking arrangements, so neither provider can be called cheaper or better without comparable written quotes.

Provider	Advertised terms and points to confirm
A1 Country Firewood	Advertises delivery and stacking in Chicago and surrounding suburbs and lists a public woodyard at 1129 W. 37th St. Its undated advertised base delivery charges are $50 for a face cord, $40 for a half and $30 for a quarter, assuming ground-level service. The page does not define those quantities by cubic volume or clearly isolate the cost and scope of stacking labor. Confirm the current wood price, sales tax, volume, access charges and exact stacking service before ordering. (A1 Country Firewood)
Trees R Us	Advertises North Shore and north and northwest suburban service. Standard delivery leaves the wood for the customer to stack; crew stacking costs an additional unpublished amount. The company advertises free delivery within 20 miles of its Wauconda office, although the footer lists an Ingleside address. It defines a tightly stacked full cord as 128 cubic feet and its face cord or rick as 48 cubic feet. Confirm the stacking fee, charges beyond the stated radius and the address used to calculate mileage. (Trees R Us firewood terms)

The central difference is not simply whether one company publishes a lower number. A1’s quantity labels are not defined by volume on the supplied page, and its advertised ground-level delivery figures do not establish how much carrying or stacking is included. Trees R Us defines its cord quantities, but its ordinary delivery is a drop rather than a completed stack.

That means a useful comparison requires three matching details: cubic volume, final placement and included labor. A quote for an undefined face cord dropped beside a truck is not directly comparable with a quote for a measured volume carried through a gate and stacked behind a garage.

Request the same volume and describe the entire delivery route

Ask each company to quote the same number of tightly stacked cubic feet. Do not assume that “face cord,” “half” or “quarter” represents the same amount from both businesses. If you are uncertain about the quantity, ask for prices at several defined volumes rather than converting the providers’ labels yourself.

Use a request such as:

I need a quote for [number] cubic feet of tightly stacked firewood delivered to ZIP code [ZIP]. The final stack will be [outdoors/indoors] at [exact location]. Access includes a [gate or alley width], approximately [carry distance], [number of stairs or elevator details] and [parking or loading constraints]. I would like delivery around [date or time range]. Please provide the total for the wood, tax, mileage, unloading, carrying and complete stacking at that location.

For a Chicago property, describe the route as carefully as the destination. Explain whether the likely unloading point is at the curb or in an alley and whether the crew must pass through a side gangway, low gate or tight turn. Mention basement steps, uneven surfaces and the distance from the truck to the rack.

For a condominium or apartment building, verify that the property permits the delivery and proposed storage arrangement. Do not assume that delivery includes entering common areas, using an elevator or carrying wood to an interior location.

Ask A1 to define the tightly stacked cubic volume represented by its face-cord, half and quarter labels. Then ask what the ground-level base delivery charge covers. Does it include unloading only, ordinary stacking near the truck, a set carry distance or another arrangement? If the route includes stairs or a long carry, request a revised all-in figure.

Ask Trees R Us for its current stacking charge and any delivery fee outside the advertised 20-mile radius. Confirm whether that radius is measured from Wauconda or the Ingleside address shown on the page. Even when crew stacking is requested, describe the precise destination rather than relying on “location of your choice.”

Ask both providers:

• Which species and defined volumes are available?
• May the species or quantity be substituted before delivery?
• What is the estimated lead time and delivery window?
• Where did the wood originate?
• How does the seller describe its current moisture condition?
• Is transport certification available if the route requires it?
• What happens if a load is materially short, unsuitable or placed somewhere other than the agreed location?

Put the answers in the order confirmation. “Behind the garage” is not precise if the intended rack is through a narrow gate, across a long yard or inside a shared area.

Prepare the outdoor stack before delivery day

Set up a level, stable rack or another raised base before the truck arrives. The bottom pieces should not rest directly on damp soil, and the base should be appropriate for the expected load without shifting as the stack is built.

Leave room for air to move through the pile. Avoid packing irregular pieces into a dense wall simply to fit too much wood into a small corner. Protect the top from rain, ice and snow while keeping the sides open; enclosing the entire pile can retain moisture. EPA’s historic guidance recommends storing firewood outdoors, off the ground and with only the top covered because covered sides trap moisture (EPA wood-burning practices).

For most household deliveries, a level row held by a properly sized rack is more practical than a decorative circular pile. Where there is no rack to contain the ends, carefully built cross-stacked end pillars can support a straight row. The end pieces still need broad, stable contact, and the stack should not be made taller merely to squeeze the order into an undersized footprint.

Check the available footprint before ordering. For a rectangular stack:

cubic volume = length × height × depth

Use consistent units. A stack measuring 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 1.5 feet deep, for example, has a volume of 48 cubic feet. That calculation describes the occupied space when the wood is tightly stacked; it does not establish that every seller uses the same quantity label.

Chicago properties require different solutions. A compact yard may call for a smaller order or more than one stable row. Alley access may increase the carrying distance even when the rack sits close to the garage. For a garage, shed, condominium property or shared yard, verify ventilation, the suitability of the proposed base, applicable property rules and the full delivery route. Do not apply one unsupported clearance or storage arrangement to every city and suburban property.

Make sure the finished pile will not interfere with a gate, walkway, alley, parking space or shared access point. The most convenient empty corner is not necessarily a workable delivery destination if the crew cannot reach it or the stack would obstruct routine use of the property.

Check quantity, placement, stability, and dryness at delivery

Keep the written order available while the wood is unloaded. Before stacking begins, confirm the species or mix, ordered volume, included labor and final location.

If the quote is based on tightly stacked cubic volume, measure the finished stack’s length, height and depth. Piece counts vary with log size and splitting, so they are not a substitute for the agreed cubic measurement.

Before the crew leaves, check that:

• The pile is level and does not visibly lean or bow.
• The ends are held by the rack or built to remain stable.
• The bottom layer remains raised from the ground.
• The top can be covered without enclosing the sides.
• The stack does not block the agreed gate, alley, walkway, parking area or common access.
• The placement matches the written delivery instructions.

Descriptions such as “seasoned” and “kiln-dried” are provider product claims rather than independent moisture measurements or proof of transport certification. Ask whether you may use a moisture meter on representative pieces. EPA says firewood burns best below 20% moisture content and recommends checking it with a wood moisture meter.

Photograph the completed pile and its measured dimensions. If the quantity, condition or location differs materially from the order, contact the provider promptly and identify the specific discrepancy. Do not assume that a refund, replacement load or restacking service is available unless that remedy was included in the agreed terms.

Storage stacking is not fireplace loading

The delivery stack is for bulk storage. Fireplace loading involves arranging a small number of logs inside a specific fireplace, stove or insert.

Keep the main supply outdoors. One commercial fireplace-industry guide suggests bringing inside only enough wood for one or two fires to reduce opportunities for pests to enter with stored logs. Treat that as a practical pest-reduction suggestion, not a universal rule (firewood storage guidance).

Burn only dry, split and untreated firewood. Do not burn wet or green wood, painted or pressure-treated lumber, plywood, particleboard, other engineered wood, trash, or moldy or diseased wood. EPA’s guidance supporting these restrictions is a historic resource rather than a substitute for the instructions supplied with a particular appliance.

There is no single log pattern suitable for every fireplace. Follow the operating manual for the exact approved fireplace, insert or stove, including:

• Permitted fuel and log dimensions
• Maximum loading amount
• Log, kindling and airflow arrangement
• Door or screen position
• Damper operation
• Permitted fire starters
• Reloading and shutdown procedures

EPA’s historic guidance identifies newspaper, dry kindling and all-natural fire starters as options, while warning against gasoline, kerosene and charcoal starter. If general advice differs from the appliance manual, follow the instructions for that model and installation.

A delivery also does not establish that a lease, condominium association, insurer or applicable authority permits firewood storage or wood burning at the property. Resolve those questions separately before ordering a bulk supply.

Ask where the wood came from before moving it again

Firewood can contain insects, eggs or pathogens even when a load appears clean. Ask the seller where the wood originated and whether it has certification required for the route it traveled.

This matters if you plan to move part of a Chicago delivery to a second home, campground, forest preserve or another state. The applicable requirements depend on the wood’s origin, destination and travel route—not only the address where the load was first delivered.

Before transporting household firewood, check the current requirements for the destination county, campground, forest, park or state. If the wood’s origin or required documentation cannot be verified, do not move it until those questions are resolved.

Choose a provider only after receiving an all-in quote for a defined tightly stacked volume and the complete route to the prepared rack. Once the delivery is stored, use the appliance manual—not the arrangement of the outdoor pile—to decide how the wood is loaded and burned.