We've talked to six companies over the last six months, and got estimates from three. The estimates were as apples-to-apples as we could get them at this early stage. One PB was eliminated because the salesperson suddenly went dark on us for 17 days, so we took that as a very bad sign. The other one we eliminated had a price about 30 percent higher than the others, which was enough of an increase that we'd have to omit a few things. The one we're going with (and he does know we've chosen him) had the lowest price (but not crazy low), but more importantly, we liked him, saw that he understood us, and we've been to see his work. I've also contacted his references, and they seemed to be honest since they told me what went wrong and what to watch out for while they still recommended him.
Hubby removed an old deck and our hot tub, and once the concrete pad it was on is gone, we'll be marking out everything on the ground.
The PB's price also included pavers and wall labor and materials, but we're probably going with less square footage on the pavers than he had in his estimate, so we should be good there unless we ultimately pick some overly snazzy kind
One thing to be decided is the Premix Marbletite or the Pebble Tec finish, as noted in my sig.
Thanks everybody! I'll take all of the thoughts/opinions I can get.