MerLux Pools, a once-popular pool builder in North Texas, is facing accusations of taking money from dozens of customers for pool projects that it never completed. The company is now in bankruptcy, and its former customers have been left holding the bag. Some of them have even begun to speculate that one of the company’s owners, Jared Hall, may have faked his own death to avoid responsibility.

The story begins with Caprice Bohr, who dreamed of having a pool in her backyard. She paid MerLux Pools last summer to build one, but the company never completed the project. Today, Bohr is left with an unfinished pool that collects rainwater and debris. She is one of many homeowners in North Texas who have paid MerLux for projects that the company never finished.

Other customers, like Anusha Raavi and Kedar Kunal, paid MerLux over $142,000 to build them a backyard oasis with a pool, waterfalls, fire bowls, and an outdoor kitchen. They say that everything was perfect until just before Thanksgiving, when a fellow customer warned them that the company was going under. By that Sunday, MerLux was declaring bankruptcy.

Upset customers began to gather on Facebook, sharing videos and stories of their experiences with MerLux. Some customers even confronted one of the owners, Jared Hall, in person, weeks before the bankruptcy. In court records, MerLux reports that it owes money to at least 35 customers and has a total debt of more than $2 million.

During a recorded phone meeting with a bankruptcy trustee, the company’s co-owner, Ryan Setty-O’Connor, claimed that the main reason the company failed was because of Hall. He accused Hall of stealing money, spending it lavishly, and deceiving everyone, including him. Setty-O’Connor testified under oath that Hall died in January from an unspecified illness. During his testimony, Setty-O’Connor also revealed that he was aware that some of the positive reviews for MerLux Pools were not genuine.

However, some customers are not convinced that Hall is actually dead or that he’s the only one to blame. They have questioned the absence of an obituary or public death certificate, and some have even suggested that he may have faked his own death to avoid responsibility.

“Maybe two years later, they both might be sipping margaritas on some beach,” Anusha Raavi told reporters.

CBS News who broke the story was unable to confirm that Jared Hall, co-owner of MerLux Pools, has indeed passed away. However, bankruptcy trustee Shawn Brown has reported that he was provided with a “scan copy of the death certificate” that “appeared authentic.”

With few assets left, MerLux is unlikely to pay off much of its debt. This leaves the company’s former customers to clean up its mess, and many of them are left wondering whether they will ever see their dream pool become a reality.

Photo Credit: @SFamBam – YouTube

When it comes to the world of pool and outdoor living design, there are few who have come close to the success and recognition that Danny Wang has achieved. Based in Orange County, CA, his firm DW Design & Build has established a reputation as one of the leading design firms. Racking up award after award for his over-the-top luxury pool and backyard designs, Wang’s ability to help homeowners conceptualize their ideal outdoor living environment is unprecedented.

With an uncanny ability to envision complete outdoor living design concepts on-the-fly, Danny Wang is almost a household name in the pool design world. He seems to possess a rare ability that gives him near-instant insight to look at a home and see the potential for a complete redesign in his head before ever putting pen to paper.

“I’m not freestyling it but it’s almost like when I go walking into someone’s backyard an image of a project literally pops up in my head and I see it,” said Wang, “I don’t know how else to describe it. Usually, by the time I’ve walked through the yard and talked to the homeowner, the designs are done within 5 to 15 minutes.”

“It’s probably based on all my experience. You build so many pools, that you kind of know what goes where and what can and can’t go on in the design,” said Wang.

“Lately, when I’m approached for a design the homeowner just lets me do my thing,” said Wang, who admits he’s looking to work with clients who allow him free reign to create them an over-the-top design for their backyard. “That’s kind of how we screen our clients to know if they’re going to be very involved in the process. I mean, that’s okay, but more and more what we like are folks who know they are hiring me to build them an award-winning pool and know that I’ll get it done right,” he explained.

“I don’t think every designer could say that confidently. We’re building a very complex pool, so there are only a few people that can execute at that level. This is why a lot of times we build our own projects,” said Wang.

“Of course, it’s not my house, so what we have to do is still take into account what they want and need. We take those elements from discovery and incorporate those into a design around that,” said Wang.

Wang says he draws inspiration from what other folks like Paul McClean are doing in the field of architecture. “I think pushing that boundary is important, seeing what’s possible both technologically and artistically. What have people not seen before? I think that part really motivates me to be creative and innovative in the design and build aspect. That, makes it more fulfilling and kind of drives me,” said Wang.

“I get a lot of inspiration from just looking at different places. I would look up resorts in Bali, Mexico, and other various parts of the world and try to understand their different design language,” explained Wang, “looking at things globally and saying ‘well what are these people doing in different parts of the world?’ and then taking inspiration from that and combining elments into what we’re designing for our clients.”

Things didn’t always come so easy for Wang, who let us know that the moment he started to become known, he made a typical mistake many design firms make. “I think in 2017, at that time, I had a lot of business. I made a mistake, as a lot of people do, and took on way more than I could chew. I think at that time, I had about 50 projects backlogged, and I was doing about 30 projects at once. It was brutal, and we were losing money left and right,” said Wang.

In order to regain some sanity, Wang said that he was forced to take a break to complete the projects he had in backlog. “I couldn’t build for like two years because we just had so many in backlog,” explained Wang, “I did have time to do design, so what I ended up doing was I was doing my projects during the day, and at night, I would go home and design for other people.”

“That was roughly the same time that I started doing social media. People see would see our designs on social media and it just kind of took off from there,” said Wang.

Wang’s visionary designs are clearly not only appreciated by the pool industry but by the general public as well. Having amassed an enormous social media following, he has plans to leverage his brand in new and exciting ways.

“Our content is entertaining and also educating people. There’s a lot of stuff we can learn now through social media, where we have a worldwide audience. I didn’t know that there were so many different types of building techniques and different elements used throughout the rest of the world. So that’s really eye-opening, and I learned a lot. I also see other people learning a lot from the content that I’m producing and that’s very interesting to me,” said Wang.

Often eager to show off the latest design trends, we asked Wang what’s trending with his social media audience. “I think bigger and crazier water features. We’re using a lot more lighting versus just the traditional on-and-off people are used to. We’re doing smart lighting where we can control the water feature lighting and that creates a whole new element of the design. DMX lighting where the water features change color with the music. LED’s can have patterns and the pool almost becomes like a musical stage.”

By the millions of likes and shares his content is getting, it’s clear that folks are excited about what Wang is doing in the backyard. “You just don’t see these types of things happening in your ordinary backyard,” said Wang.

It’s clear Wang’s portfolio of over-the-top luxury resort-style swimming pools continues to grow almost as quickly as his social media following. Wang said he has every intention of turning the brand into a household name. “We’re kind of getting into product development. Right now we’re talking with tile and fire pit manufacturers. We’re also going to start developing our own indoor and outdoor product lines. So lots of exciting things going on,” said Wang.

Listen to our entire conversation with elite pool designer Danny Wang on the Pool Magazine podcast.

For decades, my associates and I have tirelessly worked to enhance the knowledge and image of pool builders as highly skilled professionals through educational seminars, technical publications, hands-on demonstrations, certifications, and licensing in many states.

Yet, in your recent commercial, those efforts were thwarted by your organization’s portrayal of a pool builder. 

The commercial, “Meet the kind of people who are in our parking lot at 5:45 a.m.” portrays pool builders with an old stereotype – a guy with an old beat-up truck and notepad drawing.  

The video pans in on each of the “people” in their vehicles as the voiceover describes their profiles and why they are coming to The Home Depot. The last profile is Ed…  “Ed’s putting in a pool for a friend… we all need an Ed!”  The visual is of Ed making notes on a pad. As the commercial continues, the store opens and each of the “People” climb out of the vehicles to go inside. “Ed” with a window sticker “my other truck is a boat”, walks away from his vehicle, an old beat-up truck.  

The original 1-minute commercial produced by BBDO Atlanta/BBDO New York was released in March 2022. A shortened 30-sec version was also released.  

As a licensed pool contractor in Las Vegas, Nevada, a Certified Building Professional, and former director on the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance national board, I take offense to how your commercial depicts my industry.  Not only is this commercial insulting to the many highly educated pool professionals across the US and internationally, but it also encourages the viewpoint that pool builders are simply a guy with old trucks and notepads. Furthermore, “friends” don’t know everything there is to know about building a safe and efficient pool. 

There are many states that require licensing for pool construction. Most have specific guidelines such as building standards and regulations, ANSI and ISPSC codes and in some states- water use restrictions just to name a few.

Nevada homeowners do have the option to build their own pool. However, the Nevada State Contractors Board has outlined in strict detail the guidelines for such activity including registering the project, permitting, insurance responsibilities and mandatory use of licensed sub-contractors to do the work. 

It is a crime for an unlicensed person to perform construction work even on an owner-builder pool project and that includes one’s “friend”.  

While it seems that your creative team at BBDO wanted to capture a variety of individuals, needs and projects, they did not take time to consider the negative and dangerous implications of the “Ed” character.” 

The Home Depot commercial could sway an unlikely consumer to seek a “friend”, an unlicensed and untrained individual to install their pool, jeopardizing the wellbeing of the family both physically and financially. 

Ed might be better off “Putting in a garden for his wife!”