Despite the existing and potential threats to the laminate segment, the outlook for the U.S. laminate market is positive, with steady growth expected as economic conditions stabilize, pent-up renovation demand is released and laminate’s advanced features and enhanced water resistance continue to take share away from SPC and drive further adoption.
Alex Decarie
business development – flooring, Egger North America
What is your projection for the growth of the U.S. laminate category in 2026?
U.S. laminate should post low-to-mid single digit growth in 2026. With tariffs and cost inflation pressuring imported SPC, laminate is positioned to outperform the broader hard surface average on both units and mix.
What segments and/or products will fuel growth next year?
Growth is shifting away from opening price point products into laminate that genuinely looks and performs like premium wood, driven by longer and wider planks, PVC-free wood-based constructions that appeal to health- and sustainability-focused consumers, and water-, dent- and scratch-resistant upgrades that solve real-life performance issues while preserving strong value pricing.
What are your growth projections for your own company/brand?
The expectation is for our laminate business to grow faster than the overall category as mix shifts to better, differentiated products.
Cite a few of your major initiatives achieved in 2025.
One of the key 2025 initiatives was relaunching EGGER as a valuable, design-forward and sustainable supplier into the U.S. laminate market, re-establishing the brand as a credible wood-based alternative at a time when interest in laminate is clearly resurging. This has meant partnering closely with OEMs and leading distributors, helping them rebuild a profitable laminate business model, shifting away from low-margin, tariff-heavy rigid imports and back into high-quality, PVC-free laminate programs that their teams can sell with confidence again.
Identify the ‘X’ factor(s) that will impact business in 2026.
The wild card for 2026 is policy and macro: tariffs, rates and consumer confidence.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities?
The greatest opportunity lies in converting highly tariffed, low-quality entry-level SPC back into better-value laminate that still respects the consumer’s price point, while owning the “PVC-free, wood-based, worry-free” story for homeowners who want a wood look, care about materials, and still need practicality, and capturing renovation and smaller residential projects where longer, wider laminate can deliver a true “designer” aesthetic without the hardwood budget.
David Moore
VP product management, Mohawk
What is your projection for the growth of the U.S. laminate category in 2026?
We expect to see laminate continue to take share on the retail hard surface market. However, we do expect some overall market contraction; especially in the first half of the year.
What segments and/or products will fuel growth next year?
Residential remodel will be a big part of industry growth for 2026 with a focus on premium and high-performance products as well as an emphasis on sustainability. This is being driven by consumer desire for design refreshes as well as to prepare for resale especially as we see mortgage rates start to ease.
What are your growth projections for your own company/brand?
We expect to see growth for our domestically produced products like our RevWood laminate and Pure- Tech hybrid resilient product.
Cite a few of your major initiatives achieved in 2025.
We continued to invest in our domestic manufacturing capabilities.
Identify the ‘X’ factor(s) that will impact business in 2026.
We recognize that external market forces will play a pivotal role in shaping business outcomes in the coming year. The performance of the housing market is the most significant factor impacting the industry. We are closely monitoring interest rates and consumer sentiment, as these will directly influence remodeling activity and new home construction—key drivers for flooring demand.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities?
Opportunities will come from manufacturers who are uniquely positioned to provide a full breath of products that are both domestically manufactured and sourced to balance demand shifts as the year ramps up.
Celine Quervel
managing director, Classen Group
What is your projection for the growth of the U.S. laminate category in 2026?
We expect the U.S. laminate category to experience modest growth in 2026. Laminate remains an honest, value-driven flooring category that delivers one of the best price-to-performance ratios available to consumers.
What segments and/or products will fuel growth next year?
Waterproof/water-resistant laminate and hybrid constructions; entry- level products for fast, affordable consumption; and PVC-free, health-oriented alternatives.
What are your growth projections for your own company/brand?
We expect stable performance in laminate and strong growth in our non-PVC product platforms.
Cite a few of your major initiatives achieved in 2025.
We strengthened our overall product mix and price architecture to meet U.S. consumer expectations across all key segments.
Identify the ‘X’ factor(s) that will impact business in 2026.
The most influential variables will be: tariffs and trade policy; regulatory shifts at federal and state level; interest rates; and inflation and the corresponding effect on housing and consumer purchasing behavior.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities?
The clearest opportunity lies in PVC-free flooring at new, more accessible price points. The biggest opportunities lie in attractive price points and the core standard laminate segment, where customers can rely on strong durability and water-resistant performance without paying premium rigid-core prices.
Derek Welbourn
CEO, Inhaus
What is your projection for the growth of the U.S. laminate category in 2026?
We were very bullish on the laminate market for 2025 and we remain with this sentiment for 2026. Last year, we expected the laminate business to be up on volume and prices over previous year, which was arguably not supported by industry data. However, we feel that the category, which comes in new forms has been under reported. With more than a dozen new entrants and the new hybrid resilient category, essentially laminate on steroids for water performance, we again expect laminate to be up in volume and revenue for next year. For the market as a whole, we are targeting 3 to 5%.
What segments and/or products will fuel growth next year?
We see growth for laminate in the builder market where people are looking for value waterproof and stable products. Hybrid Resilient will play a role here as well. Further, Repair and Remodeling, was a hard hit category with the continued lull in housing starts. However, we see some light at the end of this tunnel in the second half of 2026, where laminate will have a value play.
What are your growth projections for your own company/brand?
We are planning some excellent growth for our company in 2026 as we have some major product line updates launching throughout the year.
Cite a few of your major initiatives achieved in 2025.
Updating our offerings of laminate, where technology met style and design. We launched an update with our Manner Herringbone collection. We love the easy to install technical side and the look and feel of the Herringbone. However, we felt that it would be more of a boutique product with a strong appeal to a smaller audience; but it has had a much broader appeal and demand than we initially thought. Other excitement in the laminate category has been the additional of our Ecolam product. Highly economic and environmentally friendly was the cornerstone of the development.
Identify the ‘X’ factor(s) that will impact business in 2026.
Tariffs, threat of tariffs and just general economic uncertainty is the major “X” factor driving the economy as a whole and affecting interest rates. With the instability that we have experienced, single family housing had a run rate of as low as 900,000 units. We expect a good uptick here, particularly in the second half of 2026 and in 2027.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities?
Often the greatest opportunity will come from the hardest hit sector, which is most certainly the repair and remodelling sector and related, the independent retailer. We will continue to focus and support this sector with our best products and the drive the greatest value. As the market starts to rebound, we are confident that consumers will gravitate towards great products complimented by great service, which means the independent retail dealers. We are excited about the future.
