I paid $ 15.25 per square foot for white marble travertine. After seeing pavers being installed, I can see that this is back breaking work. All thoughts of doing it myself had fortunately vanished in time.
The preparation of the base is labor intensive. Moving the materials is labor intensive. Grading the area is skill and labor intensive. Cutting the pavers is skill, time and labor intensive.
I know I might have paid a few dollars more per square foot - but in my opinion, PB should be allowed to make a few shekels to warranty and co-ordinate the work. PB also lays the cash out upfront for the pavers and is responsible for all breakages, etc.
My cost per sq foot also included tying 5 downspouts and connecting them to an underground 4 inch pipe to the edge of the property. Included making travertine covers for the skimmers and autofill. Included removal of excess material and packaging materials ( kept a few tiles of all sizes as spare).
All things considered, if the final product end up looking great, its worth every penny. This was probably the best 16K I spent on the pool. It was also the only decision that my wife and I kept second guessing because of the cost. The entire look of our pool was enhanced with the pavers.