Interior walls...dry wall? plywood? Calling all the BBB home godesses :)

[mommy111]

We need to install some walls in our home, to close out rooms that are right now part of a very open floor plan. We spoke to a contractor and he said traditional dry wall installation tends to be very dusty so we should consider a wood wall. He said he can paint the wood and make it look just like regular wall. To my mind, wood always has grain so I can't imagine it looking just like a regular wall, and we have a tiny home (1000sqft) and can't afford to have anything ugly/unfinished looking in it.
So what would you say, drywall and deal with the dust or wooden walls and they should look good, or some other option?

[ckso]

I've never heard of wood walls. Would it be plywood? Or wood panels?

[waitingforgrace]

drywall, hands down. If done well it's not that dusty and I can't imagine wood would be cheaper and or that much less messy. There would still be seams to finish, etc.

[crl]

I'd think drywall. It seems like it would be easier to patch down the road when you need to move a light switch or what have you. Can he show you a finished project with the wood he is proposing?

Catherine

[Reader]

Our house is so old that it does have some plywood walls & you wouldn't know until you hammered into it that was wood and not drywall. Here a 4x8 sheet of plywood could be $40 while drywall would be more like $15. We didn' t notice too much dust when we recently redid one of our walls and put up drywall.

[mommy111]

Our house is so old that it does have some plywood walls & you wouldn't know until you hammered into it that was wood and drywall. Here a 4x8 sheet of plywood could be $40 while drywall would be more like $15. We didn' t notice too much dust when we recently redid one of our walls and put up drywall.
I've had 2 individual contractors tell me to use wood, I guess its just easier for them? I hadn't even thought of wood, I would have assumed its a fire hazard (but pparenty it has fire retardant). They did say drywall would be cheaper and wood a 'little' more expensive, so I wonder...maybe they're trying to make less work or more money? I did offer to get plastic to cover the living areas but they seemed so much more sold on wood that I thought I'd ask you guys

[westwoodmom04]

I would talk to another contractor. We had drywall installed in our house with no dust issues.

[elliput]

The dust comes from sanding after mudding and taping the seams. What would the contractor be using to hide the seams on the wood?

[mommy111]

...wow, you guys are a rich source of info :) Any idea on costs (just a rough approximate, should we be looking at a couple of thousand or a few hundred). 4 walls, approx 16x6, 2 with doors, 2 with (interior) windows.

[mommy111]

The dust comes from sanding after mudding and taping the seams. What would the contractor be using to hide the seams on the wood?
I don't know....I'm not particularly knowledgeable (or at all knowledgeable) about this stuff, and tend to agree to whatever the contractors say....I will ask them about this!

[Reader]

I've had 2 individual contractors tell me to use wood, I guess its just easier for them? I hadn't even thought of wood, I would have assumed its a fire hazard (but pparenty it has fire retardant). They did say drywall would be cheaper and wood a 'little' more expensive, so I wonder...maybe they're trying to make less work or more money? I did offer to get plastic to cover the living areas but they seemed so much more sold on wood that I thought I'd ask you guys

I'm really curious where (approximately) you live where plywood is the standard. It's an interesting choice!

[mommy111]

I'm really curious where (approximately) you live where plywood is the standard. It's an interesting choice!
New England :)