> From the article: If you live in the United States today, and you accidentally knock a hole in your wall, it’s probably cheaper to buy a flatscreen TV and stick it in front of the hole, compared to hiring a handyman to fix your drywall.
This also isn't true?
It costs almost nothing to patch drywall. You can also do this yourself. Unless the point they're making is "TVs are so cheap, you can mount a TV inside of the drywall for less money than it would cost to fix," which also isn't true.
If you have the stuff already.
I had to buy the sanding pole, the joint compound, the putty knife, and the paint the other day. A TV would definitely have been cheaper.
More like $20.
In America, all of that other than the paint is available at the dollar tree. You're looking at ~$7 to fix the hole (spackle, mesh tape, trowel, sandpaper, paintbrush) and $12 to buy a pint can of matched paint, as long as the hole is smaller than your fist.
Larger you would need to add in a $20 patch panel of sheetrock, a razor knife or other sheetrock saw (could probably use the bread knife in a pinch) and a hammer and nails, so closer to $50 all in.
> so closer to $50 all in
https://www.amazon.com/toshiba-fire-tv-32-inch-class-v35-ser... is $75 right now. On Prime Day I saw a similar one for $35.
I was curious so I did a quick check.
I can buy a flat screen TV from Walmart for $74. A handyman to come to my house is a minimum of $150.
So the parent comment is true, buying a TV is cheaper than hiring a handyman to fix the drywall.
but you need to put the TV on the wall
VESA mounts and installation are not cheap
it's really an apples and or ciders comparison
that said, now I realized I have a door with two pictures screwed to it, because we punched a hole through it more than a decade ago during a house party, and that specific door is out of production, and it's the door to the storage room so it was (and still is) the perfect solution :)
Walmart has $22 mounts that will work for that $74 TV, and Walmart has TV installation service for $79 (basic mounting of a customer supplied TV with a customer supplied mount).
A TV wall mount can be had for $30, or even little less. They're extremely simple to install. All you need is a basic drill and 20 minutes.
Also, the hole in the wall will make it easier to locate the studs onto which you mount.
Try hiring someone to do the job. You won’t get out for less than a few hundred.