Last Updated on October 4, 2026 by Umar Farooq
The one thing to understand about how to stack a washer and dryer is that the dryer is never balanced on top of the washer — it is bracketed to it by a manufacturer stacking kit matched to that specific pair of models. Everything else here is detail. Without the kit, the only thing holding a dryer up there is friction between two sheets of painted steel — and a washer entering a spin is the one appliance in your house engineered to overcome friction. It moves. Whatever is loose on top of it moves too, and a dryer has a long way to fall.
LG’s stacking instructions put this in language manufacturers almost never use: “When stacking the dryer on top of the washer, it is imperative and mandatory to purchase the optional Stacking Kit accessory and install it on the washer.” Mandatory and optional in one sentence is clumsy writing and perfectly clear intent: the kit is an extra you buy, not an extra you skip (LG — how to stack an LG washer and dryer).
Only front-loaders stack, and the washer always goes on the bottom
If your washer loads from the top, this page is not for you. A top-loader’s lid opens upward, so anything sitting on the machine has to come off before you can run a wash — which is not a stacked pair, it is a shelf you dismantle every Saturday. No kit exists for it. If you are still choosing machines, front load vs top load washer covers what else that decision changes.
The order is not a preference either. GE states it as an absolute: “Some models offer an optional stacking kit, allowing you to install a matching Dryer on top of the Washer. The Washer can never be installed on top of a Dryer.” (GE Appliances — front load washer and dryer stacking). The reason is physical and it explains the rest of this page. The washer is the heavier machine — it holds water and carries a counterweight bolted to the tub — and it is the one that generates violent forces during spin. Bottom position keeps that mass low and sends the vibration into the floor.
The stacking kit is the safety system, not an accessory
A stacking kit is not a spacer. Depending on brand it is some combination of brackets that bolt to the rear of both cabinets, guides that the dryer’s rear feet physically lock into, replacement dryer feet and screws — a mechanical connection that makes two appliances behave as one object. Samsung’s SKK-8K is described as designed to fit “most Samsung 27 inch wide front load laundry pairs,” and every word of that qualifier matters: most, Samsung, 27 inch.
That is why you cannot buy a generic kit and hope. Bracket hole positions, cabinet depths and foot geometry differ between manufacturers and between series from the same manufacturer. LG is blunt about the check: “Not all washers and dryer can be stacked. Please make sure your models are compatible and stackable before attempting to stack the set.” So before you order anything, get both model numbers off the machines — door frame, under the lid rim, or a plate on the rear panel — and confirm the kit lists both.
How to stack a washer and dryer: the six steps
Every brand’s instruction sheet differs and yours governs, so read the one in the box. What follows is the shape they all share, and the order matters more than any individual step. Two people, throughout.
- Unplug both machines and shut the water taps. Samsung’s instruction is to “unplug both the washer and dryer to avoid potential electric shocks while working.”
- Position the washer and level it there. Once the dryer is on you cannot get a level onto the washer’s top panel or rock it to test. Level it now.
- Fit the kit hardware. Some kits mount guides to the washer’s top cover; others clip supports into the dryer’s base while it lies on its side. Nothing gets fully tightened yet.
- Lift the dryer on. Samsung: “Two people are required to lift the dryer onto the washing machine.” LG is more emphatic — “DO NOT attempt the stacking procedure with only one person.” (Samsung — install a stacking kit on your washer and dryer).
- Seat it, align it, then tighten. Rear feet or brackets must be fully engaged before any screw is torqued down. Samsung’s closing step: “ensure that all screws are tightly fastened before moving your stacked washer and dryer into their final place.”
- Reconnect and test with a real load. Run a full cycle with laundry in the drum and stand there for the spin. It is the only test that means anything.
Two jobs get forgotten until the pair is already assembled: the dryer’s vent now has to reach its duct from much higher up, and a gas dryer’s flexible connector has to reach without strain. Work both out before the lift.
Level the washer first, because a stacked pair amplifies everything
This is the section the ranking pages hurry past, and it decides whether your stacked pair is fine or a nightly event. A washer that rocks slightly on its feet at floor level is a mild annoyance. Bolt a dryer on top and you have a taller, top-heavy structure absorbing the same forces. LG’s stacking page is unusually insistent about this: it tells you to make the floor under a stacked pair extremely rigid, because movement the washer alone would shrug off gets multiplied once the two machines are joined.
Whirlpool’s test takes ten seconds: “Try to rock the washer diagonally, from corner to corner, with your hands; adjust the feet if the washer teeters.” Then “The lock nuts on all four feet should be tightened against the washer cabinet.” If the floor itself moves, Whirlpool’s remedy is structural — “The noise and vibration may be reduced by placing and securing a piece of ¾” (19.1 mm) plywood to the floor beneath the washer and dryer.” The full method is in how to level a washing machine; if the pair already travels, washing machine walks during spin is the diagnosis page.
One warning about the feet, because you may end up turning them blind. There is no universal direction. LG documents “Turn the bolts clockwise to raise the washer, or counterclockwise to lower it” (LG, “how to level an LG front load washing machine” — the full citation lives on how to level a washing machine) — the opposite of the convention half the internet states as fact. Turn one foot a quarter turn and watch the corner. Five seconds, and definitive for the machine in front of you. Pads are not a substitute for any of this; see anti-vibration pads for washing machine.
What stacking costs you at service time
Here is the trade nobody on this SERP mentions, and it is real rather than theoretical. The washer’s drain pump filter is fine — that flap sits at the bottom front and a stacked pair does not block it, which is lucky, because it is the maintenance job that most often prevents a call-out (cleaning the washing machine filter). But anything needing the washer’s top panel off, or the machine pulled out and turned to reach the back, now begins with two people taking a dryer down and finding somewhere to put it.
That changes the arithmetic on ordinary jobs: an inlet valve, a control board, a supply hose weeping at the machine end. A technician’s visit takes longer, and some quote the unstack and restack separately. Replacement narrows too — when one machine dies, the survivor’s kit dictates what can replace it, so stacked pairs tend to get replaced as pairs. None of that argues against stacking. It argues for doing the maintenance you can still reach.
Two capable people, or pay for installation
Two capable people can do this. One cannot, and confidence does not change it — a 27-inch dryer is awkward before it is heavy, the lift finishes above waist height, and someone has to hold it steady while it is aligned. Samsung’s page carries the line that tells you how manufacturers see this: “Samsung is not responsible and cannot be held liable for any injuries sustained by users attempting to move or stack the washer and dryer themselves.” They will sell you installation, and for plenty of households that is money well spent.
Stop, and get it installed instead, if any of these describe your situation. Each is something you can look at and confirm:
- You do not have a second person for the lift itself — not for later, for the lift.
- You cannot find a kit that names both of your model numbers.
- The washer still teeters on a diagonal rock test after all four feet have been adjusted.
- The floor flexes, or you can feel the washer’s spin through the floor from across the room.
- The dryer is gas and the connector will not reach the new height without strain.
- The pair goes into a closet where you cannot get a hand behind the machines to fit rear brackets.
FAQ
Can you stack any washer and dryer?
No. Both machines must be front-loading, they generally need to be the same width, and a kit has to exist that lists both of your model numbers. LG’s own instruction is that not all washers and dryers can be stacked and that compatibility must be confirmed first. Check model numbers, not brands.
Can you stack a dryer on a top-load washer?
No, and no kit makes it possible — the lid opens upward, so the dryer would block the drum. A top-loader and a dryer sit side by side, or the dryer goes on a shelf or frame carrying its weight independently of the washer.
Do you really need a stacking kit, or can you just set the dryer on top?
You need the kit. A washer in spin generates enough movement to walk itself across a floor, and an unsecured dryer on top has nothing holding it there. LG calls buying it imperative and mandatory. This is the one corner of the job with no safe version.
Does a stacked pair vibrate more than side-by-side machines?
It can, and the cause is nearly always levelling rather than the stacking. The pair is taller and top-heavy, so any wobble the washer had gets exaggerated. A washer that passes a diagonal rock test with its lock nuts tightened, on a solid floor, is no worse stacked than beside the dryer.
Can you unstack a washer and dryer later?
Yes — the same job in reverse, with the same two-person requirement. Samsung publishes an unstacking walkthrough alongside its stacking instructions. Keep the hardware and the instruction sheet: the screws are not standard and you will want the sequence.
The trade: back access for a machine’s worth of floor
Every question about how to stack a washer and dryer resolves into one trade: you give up easy access to the back of the washer and gain a machine’s worth of floor. The mistake worth naming is the one this page keeps circling — treating the kit as an upsell. It is the only thing turning two appliances into one structure, it costs a fraction of either machine, and there is no version of this job where skipping it is clever. If you are still getting the machines into the room, how to move a washing machine covers that without damaging the drum on the way.
