I never like in floor plugs they control all the furniture layouts for ever I use cable lighting a lot in large open spaces so I can position light at human height and where I want it Go to a good lighting store and ask about this choice . I use Tech since IMO it has the best choice of heads for different uses.It looks like this but you can do drop heads over end tables or even chandeleirs over DR tables the sky is the limit to choices .

Floor outlets are great but they are always in the wrong place if put in prior to occupency as actual furniture arrangemnts tend to shift from what works on paper. I see no reason why in floor outlets would be an issue with radiant heating- they are in sealed electrical boxes. What kind of heating do you have- hydronic above the plywood slab with a concrete slurry, or mounted below the plywood with radiant foil to reflect the heat up? If the latter I would put the outlets in after you move in.

Obviously one does not want the electrical box(es) to physically interfere with the radiant plumbing; as long as the radiant heat stays away from the electrical box(es) there is no issue. But, the comments above do still pertain to placement, etc.

No big deal. Your designer should have created a furniture placement plan for you, so you should know where the sofa or other things are going, so as to place the outlets under them somewhere.

Sorry but the best layed plans often do not work in real life .

I have radiant heat under Hickory hardwood floors. Room is very large and I knew how I wanted to arrange furniture. I did two sofas facing and put a floor plug under each sofa. I advise you to investigate "Warmboard". IMO, and my builder's opinion it is the best product on the market.

What you have to do is read the warranty on the floor. I chose Homerwood as the brand and it was written that if laid over radiant heat, warranty is voided. I went ahead with it and have never had a problem...just an FYI.

We have radiant heat and one floor plug. it is indeed tricky to locate precisely so far in advance, but our furniture placement is pretty limited and we were not about to do without a table lamp in that location.

I think your builder is blowing smoke. We have radiant heat in both our slab and in the joist space of our second floor. Radiant heat tubing does not get very hot. For example the water from my boiler circulates in the tubes at temperatures of about 120F. Even if one of these tubes was in direct contact with an electrical box there would be no safety issues. The only issue I can think of is if the tubing were installed, the subfloor was put in, and then an electrician came along and started cutting holes in the floor without regard to where the tubing ran and nicked or cut through it. I would assume you would be able to go in the basement and check from below to identify safe spots to cut through the floor for placement of floor receptacles after the tubing was placed. But I also don't see why it's complicated to mark those one or two receptacle locations now for the plumber to route around.

I routinely use floor plugs with a carefully considered furniture arrangement on paper......and checked again before final locations. Inches don't lie. There is virtually never a need for more than two in a room, EVEN with all the seating and tables floating. You'll ask.....what about the RUG?! I have a small X slit cut by my custom rug maker: ) No it doesn't unravel.

As to cable lighting and what someone e.l.s.e may like? Not every home is suited to cable lighting, nor their style in furnishings.

"best layed ( laid) plans often do not work in real life .

We make design decisions every single day that are "fixed" once in place. This is no different........and no big issue for the next owner OR you

Worried? Have TWO flush covers.....one with no notch.

Floor plugs, even slightly out of position, beat the heck out of cords running across the floor. Flush mount covers make them not a problem of they end up in really the wrong place, but more than likely they can end up underneath a piece of furniture. The concern about misplaced plugs is overblown in my expenrience, Sure you often find that for a particular arrangement you'd rather have them a foot or two one way or another, but it almost always can be made to work out. Cords under rugs or running across traffic lanes are always a disaster, a trip or fire hazard.

There's absolutely no reason radiant heat and floor plugs can't both be installed.

And yes, I use floor outlets all the time :)

@Diana Bier: Perhaps it was a growing up in Ohio thing-- yes, you are completely correct.

Actually I don't think it was a "growing up in Ohio thing" since so many people use that term incorrectly. And I'm sure they're not all from Ohio.

LOL...... I slipped and typed "plug" ....shoot me! I do hate it when we don't refer to any "thingy" in correct terms.

If I wanted to rant, I'd have to wax on for a month on the word "match": Used so often here to refer to a need for something that blends, goes WITH, HARMONIZES and is quite different. Match implies same as, or identical. Match the dye lot, match the paint exactly please, are just two examples. Drives me a bit nuts: )

:)

I've given up on people calling receptacles "plugs"; it seems very common, even though incorrect.