I removed one switch from a three gang switchbox. I simply don't need it. All the wires to that switch have been trimmed and taped off and the same at the opposite end of those wires.
Now, what can I do to finish off the outside of that switch? The simple solution would be to plaster over the vacant third of the box and put a double gang cover on the outside. Am I breaking any codes if I do that? If so what's a decent alternative?
This is in Canada.
I can't speak to the codes portion of your question, however my husband has been changing out our builder's outlets to z-wave since we moved in.
As long as your wires are capped off (I'll assume tapped off is the same thing) how about putting on a 3-gang switch plate with 1 blocked?
Hubs did this recently with a 2-gang. It leaves all the wires accessible behind the plate should you need/want access to them for a future project while still closing off/shutting down the area that's not longer in use.
Leviton (and I am pretty sure LaGrand) make sectional wall plates including blank sections.
Like these.
You could assemble a two-switch + one-blank plate to cover your now empty section of that box.
This would be the easiest cheapest way to discontinue the box.
Removing and replacing the box with a two gang would involve drywall or plaster repair. Plastering over the now empty part of the box would probably not pass inspection and is just not a best-practice way to fix this.
You cannot legally plaster over one-third of a 3-gang box. For one thing, the outer edge of the box is supposed to line up with the room surface of the finished wall. So how would you "cover over" 1/3 of the box with a 1/2" thick wall?
If, for aesthetic or other reasons, you are determined to have only a 2-gang cover at that location, you would have to remove the 3-gang box and replace it with a 2-gang box, then refinish the wall up to the new box.
