I'd get in contact with a real estate lawyer to double check the legality of letting someone buy this. Don't want the buyer to come after you once the buyers remorse sets in
I don't think I'd be able to resist the urge to troll my spouse with annoying jokes, such as shouting over it like a fence. *"Hidy ho neighbor, how's the weather over there?"*
TIL
Per Google: While some say that builders purposely installed one baluster to acknowledge that “only God's creations are perfect,” others cite an English superstition saying an upside-down baluster would prevent the devil from climbing the stairs and taking anyone who may be on their deathbed. 🤯🤯🤯
Read the story of Babel, god is kind of an asshole when he sees competitors… Also he fucked that one carpenters wife, so he probably doesn’t like them from the beginning!
Also...
God: Don't eat that apple.
Adam and Eve eat the apple
God: You stupid dicks, why would you eat the apple I conveniently placed in front of you and told you not to eat? Lol now you and your children are all going to hell unless you go to church and give the pastor your money. Also someone needs to get diddled.
in portugal they used to tile the outside of buildings and would make one tile crooked for the same reason you listed above - because only God is perfect and they don’t want to try to upstage him
Lol, I was thinking something similar.
But shit have you seen the craftsmanship of old school masons? That shit is unreal. Even God could be challenged there.
So to make sure I have it right, the Devil, who is powerful enough to stand up to God, but is not strong enough to climb up a set of stairs with one upside-down baluster?
Not saying it's not true, but that sounds more like an excuse my dad would come up with rather than admit he made a mistake. 
OMG Iv never heard this superstition before! But the stairs on my house have one upside down baluster! I figured it was just a random mistake, or the guy who put it in was just drunk. It never occurred to me that it might be on purpose!
That’s probably what happened the first time and instead of admitting to the mistake the guy handed his priest friend the equivalent of $20 to say it was devil repellent.
Now if I ever direct or write a horror movie the first scene will be the main character moving into their new home and flipping one of these back the correct way. We all know the rest…
This would actually slap as an opening to a horror movie. The movie could be so generic, but having that detail would be an instant +1 star, all by itself
We have this in fiber arts too. People always said you need one mistake to let the devil out or something. One time my grandma told me my blanket I made was too perfect. I thought that was a good thing. It wasn’t. I thought that was a joke to make you feel better about mistakes!
Quilts are usually made with one block messed up for the same reason, only God can make something perfect. Sounds very presumptuous to me, that if you don't purposefully make it wrong, you do perfect work?
I think it's loosely tied to the devil and demons needing to count rice or solve puzzles. If you have these big spooky things, you need to feel protected by the mundane so we made them obsessed with numbers, patterns, and puzzles.
Isn’t the superstition only one of them upside down when it’s on a staircase to prevent the devil from climbing your stairs?
This is multiple flips and not a staircase
As far as I’m aware (which is not very aware at all) it’s the one flip on a staircase for the superstition. At least from what I’ve seen other people explain.
This pic just looks like a bad job.
It does look like a bad job. My aunt and uncle built our house in the early 90s, so I just assumed my uncle was tired when he put ours in and didn’t care.
But knowing our “Southern old wives tale” beliefs, my house was definitely intentional.
Omg I remember my dad telling me that when we were working on our stairs years ago. Had completely forgotten but also all my childhood scared of the dark shit (watched sixth sense when I wasn’t supposed to and was very young) I was terrified to turn off the light downstairs and would turn it off very quickly and dead run up the stairs where suddenly it was safe? Now I’m wondering if this got embedded in my brain lol
That one baluster on a staircase upside down is specifically a carpenter tradition. Two theories as to the meaning:
1. Perfection is for God only. I don’t buy that one. It’s the Japanese wabi-sabi thing and westerners didn’t generally have that instinct — lacked the humility.
2. It would prevent the devil climbing the stairs. This one sounds far more of an old European folklore thing and therefore much more likely to be the actual intent.
I don’t think it’s so much that it was a “mistake” so much as it’s just not uniform and therefore “not perfect” anymore. The intentional mistake (lol) doesn’t matter.
I believe the general idea is that introducing deliberate flaws prevents you from even aiming for perfection. In that sense it takes away the temptation for hubris. It's not done for God's benefit -- no matter what you do you can't reach perfection -- rather, it's done for your benefit to reinforce that idea.
Lots of older houses in New England do this for the devil and have witch windows (a tilted window on a gable end) because we all know witches can’t fly their brooms on an angle.
Actually it's mostly Vermont and the justification appears to be structural (allows you to fit a larger window sideways as compared to pointing up). The etymology is just a local joke, no one took it seriously (as evidenced by the obvious presence of perfectly ordinary windows in the same houses).
Having lived in Vermont for two years now, I have formed an alternative theory. Old Vermonters are definitely cheap and scrappy enough to be like "hey Jim, if you're not using that old rotten window anymore I can probably use it for something," and I suspect that they're also too stubborn to admit that the window is too big to fit once they get it home.
Yup. My dad used the sections of sliding glass door someone tossed for large windows he wanted in an addition on our hose growing up.
He put the panes horizontal high up in a loft area
Ended up being really cool. Let tons of light in
Or I'd like to offer a third, more likely, theory.
The installer fucked up and rather than fixing the issue came up with some lame ass excuses, such as the above.
I have some expertise in this, having dealt with contractors for roughly 40 years.
As a knitter, we often joke that every item has to have at least one mistake to prove it's handmade. Because we don't want to rip out half the sweater after we realize the mistake.
I'm seeing a lot of comments about about an upside-down pillar, but imo fuck that, why tf is there a railing for a fucking step height increase in the floor, just lemme step up wherever tf I want
My 60 year old house had cast iron railings spanning half the open distance of the step down to the sunken living room on both the foyer and family room sides. Awful. And ripped out in the first 48 hours of getting keys in hand. I could never figure if they were meant to be 60’s style decorative or to create a sense of “separation,” between the rooms, or if they were safety minded. Twelve years later and nobody has tripped into the living room, so they are not missed.
Sometimes it's done intentionally to ward off evil spirits, but sometimes it's just incompetence!
https://www.ksby.com/what-means-1-staircase-baluster-upside-down
Everybody’s talking about some of the posts being upside down but I’m more concerned about why there is an obvious stair-rail but no stairs??? Wtf is that even there for?
I made it easier for people to see the difference
https://preview.redd.it/vdim5c1ek0zc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05796883fc6195c0a63debc9272e9e9413396a40
The balasters are the last thing I noticed. The post on the left looks like it’s imbedded in the wall or cut in half. Why is there even a railing there?
We had one of these things in a house I lived in as a kid. Weak ass little railing that you can't touch or it will break. Thankfully my dad put a big "Please don't lean on railing" sign on it, which at least made it more aesthetically pleasing.
Funny thing is, poor bastard before you probably put it in, then realized after he finished he messed up, hid it from his wife for as long as he could, she found out and divorced him, and that's how you got the house!
At first I thought it was just one post that was wrong. Then I noticed another. Then realised FOUR are wrong?? How does someone screw up that much?
This would have driven me nuts, well done putting up with it for so long lol the wife is lucky she didn't notice until shortly before moving out!
A great feature for a house of horrors for people with OCD. Hung pictures that constantly shift askew, tile patterns subtly wrong, etcetera. No need for jump scares, lol.
Good on you for keeping your peace for a couple of years. Even knowing the consequences of opening my mouth I don't know if I could have kept my trap shot for that long.
Be honest, that is the reason why you had to sell it. I totally understand.
Thank you. I didn't want to admit it.
I'm now needing to sell my PC as I'm not sure I can truly erase this image from it entirely.
Time to sell the Internet. Once it’s online, you can’t erase it.
I'll get the power off soon as I can and light a fire👍🏻
Reminds me of this: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/spring-cleaning/
Time to sell the fire... Gotta find Ooga and booga... 👍
Oh shit you know my cousins? Tell them I said hi
Met them just now! They said *OOOhhh AaaaHhh aahhh eeh* and gave this 🦴
I'd get in contact with a real estate lawyer to double check the legality of letting someone buy this. Don't want the buyer to come after you once the buyers remorse sets in
I'm 100% positive this is exactly the kind of thing good faith disclosure laws are supposed to cover ;)
Nothing hidden though lol
Don't worry, it'll take the new owners 5-10 years to notice.
and an extra 2 yrs to realize its the same posts just upside down lmao
It’s ok, he sold the house on fb marketplace, all sales are as is. 🤣
I don't think I'd be able to resist the urge to troll my spouse with annoying jokes, such as shouting over it like a fence. *"Hidy ho neighbor, how's the weather over there?"*
...Wilson?
That's "neighboreeno"
Perhaps you should’ve burned it down before moving out.
Meanwhile I thought this was a clever play on the word "post". Though I suppose that would have been you reposting it.
Well it was clearly sell it or burn it down and start again.
I would have burned it to the ground after five minutes. The horror!
and you are not complaining much
I hate this so much. Who is responsible for this disaster?
It’s an old superstition. The random pattern is to stop the devil from following you. It is usually just one that is upside down
TIL Per Google: While some say that builders purposely installed one baluster to acknowledge that “only God's creations are perfect,” others cite an English superstition saying an upside-down baluster would prevent the devil from climbing the stairs and taking anyone who may be on their deathbed. 🤯🤯🤯
"Let's fuck up this guy's house lest god sees me as a competitor"
Wasn’t Jesus a carpenter? Nepo baby
Daddy takes care of the competition.
"A foot in the door and so much more, A foot in the door and so much more, A foot in the door and so much more."
Read the story of Babel, god is kind of an asshole when he sees competitors… Also he fucked that one carpenters wife, so he probably doesn’t like them from the beginning!
*Builds a house with correctly oriented balusters* God: “What, you think you’re better than me or sumthin?”
Insurance claim: DENIED.
Insurance: Sorry we don’t cover against acts of god.
God: *gives humans creativity Humans: *are creative God: stay in your fucken lane
God: now that you've sinned you all have free will! Humans: *exercise free will* God: NOT LIKE THAT. *fucking drowns everyone*
Also... God: Don't eat that apple. Adam and Eve eat the apple God: You stupid dicks, why would you eat the apple I conveniently placed in front of you and told you not to eat? Lol now you and your children are all going to hell unless you go to church and give the pastor your money. Also someone needs to get diddled.
What people of God don't understand God loved them hoes and was a gangster he did everything for the filthy few not the bag lickers lol
The bitch loves drama
God is for the streets.
Old Testament god=Zeus.
Lol "It's a fucking staircase, Jim, take it easy"
“I put the whole bannister together in record time for the 18th century. I gotta come up with a cover story for that one I fucked up.”
That would explain the drywall in my last place.
Nah, even God subs out drywall work.
Existential and something-to-do-with-philosophy-but-I'm-not-clever-enough-to-type-the-right-word pilled
in portugal they used to tile the outside of buildings and would make one tile crooked for the same reason you listed above - because only God is perfect and they don’t want to try to upstage him
As a construction professional, those dudes made that up to keep it off the punch list.
But it’s so useful! Boeing: “we couldn’t install ALL the rivets correctly, only God can do that.”
Damn, been in Portugal for 7 years and 1 day and never noticed.
Now it’s all you’ll see😈
[удалено]
Lol, I was thinking something similar. But shit have you seen the craftsmanship of old school masons? That shit is unreal. Even God could be challenged there.
The arrogance! "I could have made this thing with a level of perfection to rival God himself, but I didn't want to embarrass him"
So to make sure I have it right, the Devil, who is powerful enough to stand up to God, but is not strong enough to climb up a set of stairs with one upside-down baluster? Not saying it's not true, but that sounds more like an excuse my dad would come up with rather than admit he made a mistake. 
“It’s not wrong, it’s supposed to look like that. Ask an old British mf…” - Your Dad, probably
OMG Iv never heard this superstition before! But the stairs on my house have one upside down baluster! I figured it was just a random mistake, or the guy who put it in was just drunk. It never occurred to me that it might be on purpose!
That’s probably what happened the first time and instead of admitting to the mistake the guy handed his priest friend the equivalent of $20 to say it was devil repellent.
GREAT now I have to look for agnostic carpenters too?
Now if I ever direct or write a horror movie the first scene will be the main character moving into their new home and flipping one of these back the correct way. We all know the rest…
This would actually slap as an opening to a horror movie. The movie could be so generic, but having that detail would be an instant +1 star, all by itself
We have this in fiber arts too. People always said you need one mistake to let the devil out or something. One time my grandma told me my blanket I made was too perfect. I thought that was a good thing. It wasn’t. I thought that was a joke to make you feel better about mistakes!
> People always said you need one mistake to let the devil out So *that's* why my parents had me?
Quilts are usually made with one block messed up for the same reason, only God can make something perfect. Sounds very presumptuous to me, that if you don't purposefully make it wrong, you do perfect work?
Only judgmental Christian quilting ladies would think they're better than God. They were the Karens of their time
Yeah Imma do everything I can the best I can no reason to sandbag myself.
Great, now I have another inconvenient superstition that I will carry with me for the rest of my life *just in case*
The original godfather doesn’t tolerate competition
I like the idea that the devil is an effeminate interior designer who gets outraged by poorly designed homes.
Satin, the sassy devil.
Your comment made me think of Him from power puff girls. Lmao
 The devil when he’s about to snatch a soul but sees an upside down baluster on the stairwell
I think it's loosely tied to the devil and demons needing to count rice or solve puzzles. If you have these big spooky things, you need to feel protected by the mundane so we made them obsessed with numbers, patterns, and puzzles.
Isn’t the superstition only one of them upside down when it’s on a staircase to prevent the devil from climbing your stairs? This is multiple flips and not a staircase
Omg! We have these on our wrap around front porch. I always wondered why that one was “wrong” thank you!
As far as I’m aware (which is not very aware at all) it’s the one flip on a staircase for the superstition. At least from what I’ve seen other people explain. This pic just looks like a bad job.
It does look like a bad job. My aunt and uncle built our house in the early 90s, so I just assumed my uncle was tired when he put ours in and didn’t care. But knowing our “Southern old wives tale” beliefs, my house was definitely intentional.
Oh def. You should ask your uncle about it! He can probably explain better
Next time I see him I will. My curiosity is sparked now.
I never knew this. I had one in my mom’s house for 30 years. I grew up thinking it was an error. Thanks for this
It is an error, in judgement. There's zero legitimate reason to screw up someone's house for a superstition.
Devil *chasing you*: i gone get yo ass huehuehue Devil *stumbles on mismatched baluster*: WHO IN THE HELL DIDN’T MATCH ALL THESE BALUSTERS??
What really?! One is upside down in my house and I’ve never heard this before. Thank you! How interesting.
I’ll give them something to be superstitious about when I carefully remove them all with an axe
Omg I remember my dad telling me that when we were working on our stairs years ago. Had completely forgotten but also all my childhood scared of the dark shit (watched sixth sense when I wasn’t supposed to and was very young) I was terrified to turn off the light downstairs and would turn it off very quickly and dead run up the stairs where suddenly it was safe? Now I’m wondering if this got embedded in my brain lol
Contractors have always lied to cover up mistakes.
You'd think they'd think that sowing disorder invites the devil, but no…???
Oh see I thought it was the crooked bowed one and the shitty paint job.
The new homeowner apparently
My only cope is that it is a 3-4-3 pattern
does it go on tho? cuz, if not, it’s a 3-4-3-1 pattern
That’s a pretty beginner beat for any 808 kit.
I wondered if it went on too. Because if it's a pattern it's OK.
Omg... My mother has ONE baluster in her house upside down, I Remeber the day I told her lol she had no idea.
That one baluster on a staircase upside down is specifically a carpenter tradition. Two theories as to the meaning: 1. Perfection is for God only. I don’t buy that one. It’s the Japanese wabi-sabi thing and westerners didn’t generally have that instinct — lacked the humility. 2. It would prevent the devil climbing the stairs. This one sounds far more of an old European folklore thing and therefore much more likely to be the actual intent.
Also, the idea that your creation would be as perfect as god's, but for the one intentional flaw, is itself hubris.
And if the flaw is intentional, does it really count as a mistake?
I don’t think it’s so much that it was a “mistake” so much as it’s just not uniform and therefore “not perfect” anymore. The intentional mistake (lol) doesn’t matter.
Whoa that's too much logic for a religious conversation, back it down pal.
I believe the general idea is that introducing deliberate flaws prevents you from even aiming for perfection. In that sense it takes away the temptation for hubris. It's not done for God's benefit -- no matter what you do you can't reach perfection -- rather, it's done for your benefit to reinforce that idea.
Exactly, like wtf you think you made something “perfect” 😆
Lots of older houses in New England do this for the devil and have witch windows (a tilted window on a gable end) because we all know witches can’t fly their brooms on an angle.
Actually it's mostly Vermont and the justification appears to be structural (allows you to fit a larger window sideways as compared to pointing up). The etymology is just a local joke, no one took it seriously (as evidenced by the obvious presence of perfectly ordinary windows in the same houses).
Having lived in Vermont for two years now, I have formed an alternative theory. Old Vermonters are definitely cheap and scrappy enough to be like "hey Jim, if you're not using that old rotten window anymore I can probably use it for something," and I suspect that they're also too stubborn to admit that the window is too big to fit once they get it home.
Yup. My dad used the sections of sliding glass door someone tossed for large windows he wanted in an addition on our hose growing up. He put the panes horizontal high up in a loft area Ended up being really cool. Let tons of light in
Or I'd like to offer a third, more likely, theory. The installer fucked up and rather than fixing the issue came up with some lame ass excuses, such as the above. I have some expertise in this, having dealt with contractors for roughly 40 years.
As a knitter, we often joke that every item has to have at least one mistake to prove it's handmade. Because we don't want to rip out half the sweater after we realize the mistake.
Today I learned it's spelled baluster and not ballister 🤦♀️
I also didn’t know this and I’m late 40s!!!
I didn’t know what was going on until you said it 😭
Some superstitious builders do this for good luck.
Yeah that‘s what they told you. Clever
I'm seeing a lot of comments about about an upside-down pillar, but imo fuck that, why tf is there a railing for a fucking step height increase in the floor, just lemme step up wherever tf I want
Children I guess? And style?
What am I missing ?
Some are down side up, or upside down.
If you didn’t comment I would’ve never seen it lol
Yeah he did not take a good pic for it. Should have been further back centered so it was easier to see
One is also crooked but I didn’t even notice the upside down ones
Damn. I thought that was a random fence in the house
Wonder how his wife went so long without spotting it.
I had trouble spotting it even when looking for it.
Oh, I thought the whole thing is hideous and is not supposed to be there
Omg I spent a good 15mins trying to work out wtf was wrong with it and couldn’t
Found the buyer 👆🏼
I thought it was that there was a railing 6 inches off the ground
To add to that, I just hate bannisters that separate rooms. I also hate uneven floors, especially as part of a wide open area.
Yeah I thought we were upset about this unnecessary barrier between rooms
Thank you. I can't stand when people don't explain what they're posting and people have to fish for info in the comments.
Yeah I'm completely lost here
From left to right: 3,4,4
I see 3,4,3,1
And that single baluster is probably the beginning of the next set of four.
That’s what I was thinking. Lawful evil
Yea you right, my bad
The most minor shit
I wasn't even looking at the balusters. I was busy trying to figure out why there's a railing there at all.
Easier to get rid of it. Why keep it? It awful. lol
My 60 year old house had cast iron railings spanning half the open distance of the step down to the sunken living room on both the foyer and family room sides. Awful. And ripped out in the first 48 hours of getting keys in hand. I could never figure if they were meant to be 60’s style decorative or to create a sense of “separation,” between the rooms, or if they were safety minded. Twelve years later and nobody has tripped into the living room, so they are not missed.
Yeah a hideous separation. lol.
I would learn wood working, solely to fix this.
Seriously. I would be fixing it asap.
Sometimes it's done intentionally to ward off evil spirits, but sometimes it's just incompetence! https://www.ksby.com/what-means-1-staircase-baluster-upside-down
Ok but what about when at least 5 are upside down?
OMG I could NOT look at those every day!
My dumbass though he was talking about the banister all together. I'm like how TF do you not see a whole ass banister in your house.
Everybody’s talking about some of the posts being upside down but I’m more concerned about why there is an obvious stair-rail but no stairs??? Wtf is that even there for?
I honestly don't know. Why not leave it open? Or have a half wall? Or full wall‽ It was built this way, it wasn't a reno to open it up
Honestly I would have removed this interior fence even if I had to level the floors. Whats thr point?
...why is this random railing in the middle of the room? I mean I get the step down but walls exist?
you didnt get rid of the curse, you just passed it on
Builders do this on purpose for some superstitious reasons
Lol the house I grew up in had the same shit when I lived there in the 90s. That bitch was ripped out the first day my parents moved in
I made it easier for people to see the difference https://preview.redd.it/vdim5c1ek0zc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05796883fc6195c0a63debc9272e9e9413396a40
Yeah it’s only mildly infuriating so I figured I’d just let people find it
it was infuriating me, carpentry family for 75 years. I had to do it.
Ooooo. It took me a little bit of peering to figure out what was going on…….
If I remember correctly the correct name for those are balusters
The balasters are the last thing I noticed. The post on the left looks like it’s imbedded in the wall or cut in half. Why is there even a railing there?
If your buyers have any taste whatsoever, they’re going to tear that tacky indoor fence down anyway.
Forget the crooked balusters, why the fuck is this fence cutting the room in half?
Safely “post” this hahaha
Finally someone saw the pun!
The best part about this is your anticipation of the day you could post this without worry. Must feel like a massive weight is off your shoulders 😂
Yeah I don’t see anything at all
It hurt my eyes looking at that. If this was near the entry door I would’ve lost my shit. Congrats on your sale
My eyes 😭 It's a sensory nightmare. How did you guys live there???? I would have ripped it off.
Better make sure the buyer doesn’t read this…
You should have played the matching notes on the nearby piano. It would have opened the secret panel.
Fuck. I’m going to have nightmares about that tonight.
I’m from the coding world. When we find a bug in our code, we pitch it as a “feature” not bug. So, this is a “design feature”
Whyyyyyy?! Just a little attention to detail. Find who did this and bring them to me! 😡🤣
Sorry I’m dumb what’s the problem
Just FYI, those are the cheapest balusters Lowe’s sells.
We had one of these things in a house I lived in as a kid. Weak ass little railing that you can't touch or it will break. Thankfully my dad put a big "Please don't lean on railing" sign on it, which at least made it more aesthetically pleasing.
Funny thing is, poor bastard before you probably put it in, then realized after he finished he messed up, hid it from his wife for as long as he could, she found out and divorced him, and that's how you got the house!
Took me way longer to notice the issue than I'd like to admit. My partner would have 100% required me to fix that.
am i too stoned to see whats wrong here
I've lived in poverty too long to see the problem.
“What? It’s just an ordinary raili - OH MY GOODNESS” 
This is the visual equivalent of someone using seen instead of saw.
At first I thought it was just one post that was wrong. Then I noticed another. Then realised FOUR are wrong?? How does someone screw up that much? This would have driven me nuts, well done putting up with it for so long lol the wife is lucky she didn't notice until shortly before moving out!
Ummm yeah… you’re gonna have to change that.
No longer my problem! **MWAHAHAHAHA**
* they’re 😉
A great feature for a house of horrors for people with OCD. Hung pictures that constantly shift askew, tile patterns subtly wrong, etcetera. No need for jump scares, lol.
Good on you for keeping your peace for a couple of years. Even knowing the consequences of opening my mouth I don't know if I could have kept my trap shot for that long.
Oh damn, once you see it…
There’s something really annoying about this image but I can’t put my finger on it
Real quick sledge while the wife is out and you'll be good
I would have gone mad.
I would of took a sledge hammer swung it and destroyed it and said! Again
I HAVE THOSE SAME ONES!!!
Ahhhh load bearing handrail.
It gets worse the longer you look at it, too.
I don’t see it? 😂
Can someone tell me what I'm looking at here?
TIL I'm glad that our balusters are just 1x1 squares and cannot be installed upside down
I’m lost, what’s going on here?