I'm installing IKEA Pax cabinets around two walls of a large room. I've removed the baseboards so that the cabinet backs can be completely flush against the wall as required. There are two outlets on these walls with cover plates that stick out 1/4" and thus cause a problem here. I am planning to remove the outlets and cap each wire in the outlet box with a wire nut. But I understand I should still place a cover plate over the receptacle since there are live wires inside. The problem is, almost every cover plate I've found (e.g. this one) are beveled just like the outlet cover, such that they protrude 1/4" from the wall. Even this one, which is flat (no bevel), is 1/4" thick.
A lot of ceiling fan junction boxes come with super thin (and flat) sheet metal covers. I'd prefer something thin and flat like this to install over my unused wall outlet boxes. Does anybody know of an off the shelf product I could use? If not, would it be a bad idea to get e.g. the thin metal cover plate from a ceiling junction box like I mentioned, and trim it to the size of the outlet box (plus some overlap for the drywall) and use that square as a cover? Again keeping in mind the wires inside will be individually capped in wire nuts.
Best Answer
All electrical boxes must remain accessible via simple tools and cannot be permanently covered over. It sounds like your intention was to have the boxes be hidden by the cabinets. That will be an unworkable implementation because of code requirements (unless you are located in some unregulated area with no electrical code in place).
If you must hide these boxes with no intent to actually use the circuits contained therein you should pull the wires back out of the boxes and trace them to their other end and remove the wire from that end as well. This may very well end up being a huge job involved with removing wall covering and/or cutting access holes at periodic locations. All that must be patched afterwards.
A much better alternative, as long as the inside area of the cabinet remains accessible, is to cut a hole in the back if the cabinet just where the electrical box is located. Then install a device called a "box extender" which extends the rim of the electrical box out to match the inside surface at the back of the cabinet. You can then secure the applicable type of cover plate over the extender and against the back of the cabinet. Depending on the location of the receptacles relative to the end or bottom of the cabinet, it may make sense to use the existing location as a junction box (with extender, with or without receptacles) to feed receptacles on the end or in the base (toe kick) of the cabinets, which looks great (like custom built-in cabinets) and is functional too.
Keeping the receptacles available has two additional benefits: