How many boxes can you stack on top of one another?

January 25, 2022

Cardboard boxes are excellent versatile boxes that can be used for house moving, storage and shipping. They are usually made from recycled paper and are fully recyclable too. There are many reasons why you might need to stack some boxes on top of one another; perhaps you are moving house and you want to know how many you are able to stack into a removal lorry, or perhaps you are storing some large cardboard boxes in a container and you want to know how many you can stack in there, or perhaps you are transporting boxes to a customer and want to know if you are able to stack them all in the van safely.

To properly answer this question we first need to understand the different categories of box, as the number you are able to stack will depend on the type.

Types of cardboard box

Single walled cardboard boxes. These are basic boxes which are the value option. They are the lowest cost, but they are the weakest also. You shouldn’t fill these with heavy items as they won’t be able to hold much weight inside of them, and they won’t be able to protect the things you put into them well either. They cannot be stacked on top of one another unless they are filled with very light objects.

Double walled cardboard boxes. These are the standard for most industries. They are strong and durable and usually represent good value for money. They can hold a heavy weight inside of them, up to thirty kilograms on average and they will protect the objects you put into them. They are ideal for stacking on top of one another without breaking. These are the most popular type of box.

How many boxes can you stack on top of one another?

On average, you can stack eight double walled cardboard boxes on top of one another.

On average, you can stack three single walled boxes on top of one another, so long as they are filled with very light objects.

The weight of the objects that you put into the cardboard boxes for sale will obviously make a huge difference here. If double walled boxes are filled with extremely heavy objects, for example bricks, then you won’t be able to stack eight boxes. Stacking eight boxes is an average based on an average house move where you might be moving regular weight objects.

If some boxes are filled with heavier objects than others (which is extremely likely) then you’ll want to put the heaviest boxes at the bottom of the pile with the lighter ones at the top.

If you have a variety of single and double walled boxes, then you should ensure that the double walled boxes go at the bottom of the pile with the single walled boxes at the top of the pile.

The size of the boxes is also something to consider. Smaller boxes are generally lighter than bigger boxes because they can hold less items inside of them. So you should therefore aim to put the biggest boxes at the bottom of the pile and the smaller boxes on top of the pile.

In most cases, the average removal van or lorry cannot allow you to stack more than eight boxes on top of one another as there is not enough head room. This is especially the case as usually you will put larger furniture into the lorry first with the boxes on top of them. So really, stacking boxes is not something you’ll need to worry about if you are using double walled boxes.

Larger double walled boxes have bigger sides (cardboard walls) than smaller boxes. This makes them slightly less strong than smaller cardboard moving boxes. They also become a lot heavier than smaller boxes. So really it is ideally better to have plenty of medium to smaller boxes and stack them up, than to use lots of large boxes which can become very heavy indeed.

Although you might be following these guidelines and using strong boxes and not filling them with too heavy items, you should still protect your items with protective packaging such as bubble wrap to ensure nothing gets broken during transit. You never know what will happen when a removal lorry moves, for example someone could pull out in front of you and you’ll need to break suddenly, which can cause a lot of breakage in the lorry as boxes can fall down.

Safety

It is important to remember the safety aspects of stacking boxes. If you pile them up too high above head height and they fall down onto somebody, this could be very dangerous, especially if the boxes are very heavy.

If you are stacking them in a lorry which is going to move, then there is a strong possibility that the boxes will fall down. This is not only dangerous if somebody could be below them, but it could damage the items inside of the boxes too. Always keep delicate items away from the top of the pile for this reason, and always secure the piles of boxes using some string or rope. Removal companies will often do this for you, as there are special areas on the sides of a removal lorry to secure boxes in place.

Remember if you stack boxes too high, you need to get them down again. If a taller person stacks them and a smaller person has to unpack them, this will cause difficulty.

Make sure you stack boxes exactly on top of one another, as organised as possible and as secure as possible. If you simply toss them on a pile without any organisation then they are more likely to fall down.