Last night, one of my teenage kids (who is special-needs & has occasional anger-management issues) ripped the recessed metal soap dish out of the wall just above the bathtub. The soap dish was apparently mounted in a cutout in the wallpaper-covered drywall, and attached with screws to a stud behind the drywall. We found bits of stud in the bathtub along with the soap dish, so it looks like we'd have to replace or reinforce part of a stud to reinstall it. Assuming we try to reinstall the existing soap dish, what would be involved, and about how much would it cost to have someone who knows what he's doing perform this repair? Alternatively, would it be easier and cheaper to cover the hole (with a square of drywall cut to fit the recess for the old soap dish) & install a surface-mount soap dish? (My spouse & I have fairly limited home repair skills, but we're also trying to put 2 kids through college, so thrifty, workable solutions within our skill level would be greatly appreciated.)
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