In the latest battle inside The People’s Court, a simple home improvement project turned into a multi-year legal headache. At the center of the dispute was Jason Zaglin, a real estate renovator, and Mark Ogden, a veteran concrete mason with a surprising legal background.
The Winter Pour
The story began in the freezing temperatures of December 2008 in Rochester, New York. Jason had hired Mark to pour a new concrete walkway and front steps for a house he was rehabilitating. Knowing how harsh Rochester winters can be, Jason claimed he expressed deep concern about the weather. However, he says Mark—the “expert”—insisted it was perfectly fine to proceed.
Mark, on the other hand, painted a different picture. He argued that Jason was in a rush to “flip” the house and pressured him to do the work immediately. Regardless of who pushed whom, the concrete was poured as the thermometer hovered near the freezing mark.
The “Magic Paint” and Shoddy Fixes
The consequences of a winter pour surfaced almost immediately. By spring 2009, as the snow melted, the walkway began to flake and crumble. Jason spent the next two years “chasing” Mark to honor his warranty.
Mark did return twice, but his fixes were temporary band-aids. He replaced only one section of the walkway (which remained intact) while the rest continued to deteriorate. His final attempt at a solution was applying a “specialized” stain sealer—which Jason mockingly called “magic paint.” When Jason swept his sidewalk, instead of dust, he was sweeping up chunks of the sidewalk itself.
The Courtroom Showdown
In court, Mark relied on his 25 years of experience—and his law school education—to defend himself. He argued that the two-year warranty had expired and that concrete is a “subjective medium” influenced by many factors. He even tried to suggest that Jason had accepted the work as “fine” when he allowed the stain sealer to be applied.
The Judge wasn’t buying it. She quickly sniffed out Mark’s legal training, telling him, “You smell like a lawyer to me.” She reminded the veteran mason that as a professional, if a job cannot be done correctly due to weather, he has a responsibility to refuse the work or at least get a waiver in writing.
“If I pay you to pour concrete and it cracks the next day, you better believe it’s going to get torn out,” the Judge declared.
The Verdict: Principal Over Profit
Despite Mark’s smooth arguments about warranties and curing blankets, the visual evidence was undeniable. The sidewalk was a mess.
The Judge dismissed Jason’s extra $500 claim for “time spent chasing” as legally invalid, but she ordered Mark to repay the full $1,200 for the original job. She noted that because the existing concrete now had to be torn out before being redone, the actual cost to Jason would likely be even higher than the original price.
Jason walked away satisfied, having proven that even a “lawyer-turned-mason” can’t argue his way out of a shoddy job. Mark’s final lesson? If you try to please a customer by doing work under bad conditions, you might just end up paying for it twice.
