You can always repaint the rim. Its probably not a bad idea to paint the bolts too. Its not like you should expect it to last 20 years. It certainly will offer a lot of fun for the family and friends.

Scott

Thanks for the reply. What type of paint should I use to protect the bolts? I clearly don't expect to get 20 years out of it. I was just worried that it would rust quickly and could cause issues with the water.

msujohn....we've had ours for 5 years now with a salt water pool. We used stainless bolts, washers and nuts...no rust so far. The hoop is starting to rust, but no more than if it were in our front yard without salt water. A replacement hoop is only around $20-30 at Wal-Mart.

Our pole is stainless and mounts into the floor of our gunite pool. It is anchored by SR Smith brass anchors that were placed during gunite.

The backboard is plastic and mounts to the pole with standard hoop bolt spacing. Everything else is stainless, except the hoop.

When it comes time to replace the hoop, we'll unbolt it and replace with a new one while re-using the stainless pole, stainless mounting hardware and plastic backboard.

Hope this helps.