Cost can mean two things during a renovation; money and sanity.. Your pocketbook might be padded, or your pocket book may lack any padding at all and you have to thoroughly think through each and every piece of renovation in order to stay tight to a tight budget.
When taking on a renovation project, set your budget. Depending on the size of the project, a budget will need to be thought about and will be different for each person. Having someone help pencil it out will save money in the end.
Lumber yards have a vast knowledge base and are very good at sitting down with individuals to go through each room and see what will be needed. They can draw plans for you, give you a fair estimate of material costs and provide/deliver the material to the project.
Hidden surprises will find you and need to be factored into the budget. There are always surprises in the walls of old homes. Factoring in the unseen is necessary. That floor your standing on, might need reinforcement. The walls behind that stucco exterior might need to be totally replaced because of rot. Little -big- surprises like that happen all too often. Learn how to keep a good grip on your budget during the renovation process and keep a few extra dollars in it for the surprises.
