What It Means When A House Has One Upside-Down Baluster

If your home’s staircase has an upside-down baluster that you noticed, you may have just thought it was the mistake of a carpenter or builder. However, upside-down balusters are generally installed that way for a reason – and there is a fair amount of superstition behind it.

There is a long-standing tradition of builders and carpenters installing a single, upside-down baluster on purpose to acknowledge that “only God’s creatures are perfect,” and everything man-made will have its flaws. The other train of thought behind installing the upside-down baluster lies in the superstition that doing so would prevent the devil from creeping up the stairs and capturing anyone who may be about to pass away.