Vertical log stores: tall Corten steel columns for firewood

We call a log store vertical when it is taller than it is wide. Four of our designs come in such formats. The vertical 2-tier column has one to three compartments depending on its height, and the vertical 3-tier column always has three, divided by two shelves; both are in 2 mm Corten steel with a solid back. The box without legs, also 2 mm, is a single open space with no divider. The frame on legs, in thicker 3 mm steel, lifts the wood off the ground.

The volume column multiplies the three outside dimensions, so read it as a ceiling rather than a capacity: walls, shelves, legs and the gaps between logs all take their share, and the wood you actually stack will be less.

If you are short of floor space rather than height, the columns are the answer: both stand on a footprint of 500 × 380 mm, less than a fifth of a square metre, whether they rise 800 mm or 2,000 mm. The only wider column is the 3-tier at 600 × 380 × 1,800 mm. The box without legs starts at the same 500 mm width but is a single open space with no shelf, and the frame on legs is a metre wide, so it suits a wall rather than a gap.

At UK prices, the box is the cheapest way to store wood upright: even the 1,000 × 385 × 2,000 mm box, at £980, costs less than the smallest column (£1,100 for 500 × 380 × 800 mm). What the columns add is the shelving: wood split into levels, so the logs you burn this week stay apart from the reserve above or below.

• Beside a back door or a porch: a 500 mm column, 1,200 or 1,500 mm tall, which keeps the day's logs at hand height.
• In a narrow side return or a gap between two windows: a 2-tier or 3-tier column at 1,800 or 2,000 mm, three compartments high.
• Along a wall, for a large log store that still stands upright: the box without legs at 1,000 mm wide, or the frame on legs at 1,000 × 550 × 1,800 mm, the biggest volume in this table.

Depth decides which logs fit. The columns and the box measure 380 or 385 mm overall, so logs cut to 25 or 33 cm sit inside without sticking out, whereas a 50 cm log would overhang the front by around 12 cm. The frame on legs comes 350 or 400 mm deep for 25 to 33 cm logs, and 550 mm deep, the only depth here that takes 50 cm logs.

On a column of 1,800 or 2,000 mm, the top compartment is loaded at shoulder height or above, so keep the top for a light reserve and the bulk of the logs in the lower levels, refilling them from your main woodpile as you burn.

The columns and the box have a solid back, made to rest against a wall, and an open front that lets air pass through the stack. Stand them on firm, level ground: a 2,000 mm column only 380 mm deep is more than five times taller than it is deep, and once it is full, a slight slope is enough to tip it forward.

Our product pages do not mention a wall-fixing kit. If your spot seems to call for one (a sloping patio, a windy corner, children playing nearby), talk to us before you order rather than drilling the steel or adding improvised brackets.

On a balcony, add the weight of the store (24 to 58 kg for the columns) to the weight of the logs, which is far greater once a column is full, and have the load checked if in doubt. Close to a wood burner, an open fire or a Corten steel fire pit, keep to the clearances in the appliance's instructions: a steel store does not stop the logs inside it from catching fire.

If you were hoping for a tall log store with doors, ours are open-fronted by design, and we do not sell doors, lids or covers for them. An open front lets air move through the stack, so the logs keep drying instead of sweating. To keep driving rain off the front, stand the store under the eaves, beneath a porch roof or in a sheltered corner; the frame on legs also keeps the bottom row of logs off the ground.

We design these log stores for outdoor use. Using one indoors, beside a stove for instance, has to be agreed with us before you order: moisture from the logs and from washing the floor makes Corten release oxide, which marks floorboards and pale stone. For indoor use we apply the protective varnish in the workshop; it cuts rust run-off sharply but does not rule it out, and even varnished the column can still stain the floor, so stand it on a tray or on pads suited to your flooring and check them regularly.

The varnish option adds £40 to the 500 × 385 × 1,500 mm box (£900) and £160 to the 2,000 mm 3-tier column (£1,840); whichever you pick, varnished Corten can still stain a pale floor or paving, so keep a drip tray, small feet or spacers under it and wipe any run-off quickly.

Outdoors, each piece arrives with the Cortenys signature patina, applied in the workshop. Rain running down the steel can tint pale paving at the foot of a column, so a gravel strip or darker paving makes a good base. Now and then, clear out the bottom compartment, where sawdust and damp bark collect. Our Corten steel care guide explains how to treat a mark if one appears.

A vertical format saves floor space, but at the same height it holds less than a wider tiered or compartment model. For a large reserve along the front of the house, such as a grid with four, six or nine compartments, browse all our Corten steel log stores. On pale paving, the same columns come in powder-coated aluminium, which leaves no rust marks; our page on metal log stores compares the two metals size for size. And if your log store is as much a feature as a store, see our decorative log stores.