Mid-Year Update For Commercial Flooring
There is reason for cautious optimism in the commercial flooring industry as the second half of 2025 gets underway.
Overall, commercial construction spending is expected to increase slightly, driven predominately by investments in data centers, healthcare facilities, and manufacturing — including semiconductor chip fabrication facilities.[1] In addition, the changing labor market will likely give companies more bargaining strength in return-to-work efforts, which could alter current office construction and renovation forecasts.
Even amid the unknown impacts of tariffs, building industry professionals can expect the following trends to influence commercial renovations and new construction projects.
Show-Stoppers: Bold, Signature Flooring
In the commercial space, flooring is moving beyond mere function. No longer an afterthought, designers are using flooring to convey distinct brand identities and emphasize the upscale nature of an environment. Flooring professionals are being asked to create geometric looks such as chevron, herringbone, and basketweave patterns that place elegance and grandeur underfoot.
In creative offices and businesses, bold, patterned carpets capture the dynamic essence of employees and customers, reinforcing the vibrant energy of the company from the ground up. Digital printing on commercial flooring materials is also a top trend. The technology offers unlimited potential for one-of-a-kind flooring solutions — from company logos and detailed patterns to custom icons and messages. In the buildings of trailblazing organizations, flooring is no longer boring. It’s a blank canvas for leaving a bold, memorable mark.
Enduring Desires: Durability and Sustainability
Advancements in luxury vinyl flooring, hybrid flooring, and laminates provide property owners and designers with an expansive selection of flooring materials that are both long-lasting and beautiful. With the ability to specify flooring that resists water damage, heavy foot traffic, sun fading, and scratches, today’s commercial spaces no longer need to prioritize low-maintenance durability over high-end aesthetic appeal. It’s feasible to have both.
New surface technologies are also enhancing flooring performance. Treatments to make floors more resistant to stains, moisture, and bacteria are a welcome addition in restaurants and healthcare facilities — environments where hygiene is mission critical.
To support projects seeking LEED certification, manufacturers are expanding product portfolios with offerings made from naturally renewable resources, such as cork and rubber, along with those made from recycled materials, such as luxury vinyl tile and upcycled carpet fibers. The industry is also seeing more carbon-neutral flooring choices.
Despite a political shift away from climate policies, most organizations are maintaining their environmental commitments to protect the long-term resiliency of business operations. Sustainable flooring options allow developers, architects, builders, and installers to support these commitments by reducing construction waste, extending the flooring life-cycle of commercial projects, and meeting environmental regulations in key municipalities.
To ensure floor coverings deliver on the promises of durability and sustainability or match a designer’s beautiful, bold vision, professional substrate preparation is imperative. Even the most advanced product cannot overcome an uneven subfloor or moisture seeping up from a concrete slab. Incorrect or inadequate subfloor prep compromises the integrity of a floor covering — shortening its lifespan and negating why the material was selected in the first place.
As industry leaders in underlayment and floor prep technologies, Maxxon offers an extensive portfolio of innovative products for new builds and renovations. From self-leveling underlayments and strong-bonding floor patches to time-saving moisture mitigation and game-changing adhesive removal, Maxxon provides faster, easier ways to achieve superior subfloor preparation that protects the durability and sustainability of commercial flooring investments.
Natural Beauty: Biophilic Buildings
Biophilic design cultivates a connection to nature in the built environment. In commercial construction, the practice is being adopted for its many advantages, including the ability to reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance productivity.
Using natural elements such as wood, stone, and plants to bring the natural world indoors are common in biophilic designs. Natural textures of wood- and stone-like materials are also popular. Upscale buildings may incorporate impressive water features and living walls. One of the foundational aspects of biophilic design is increasing the amount of daylight in a building which boosts energy levels and fosters a greater sense of well-being.
The abundance of natural light magnifies the importance of expert flooring installations. As streams of sunlight pour into a space and reflect off a floor’s surface, any imperfection is literally brought to light. Subfloors must be impeccably smooth, flat, and level to eliminate any blemishes or ledging. Maxxon® Commercial Pro Level-Crete™, Maxxon® Commercial Pro Level-Right®, and Maxxon® Commercial Level-EZ™ are three proven solutions for achieving smooth-as-glass level floors — a non-negotiable for sun-drenched biophilic projects.
Another Maxxon solution that’s ideal for biophilic designs is Maxxon® Commercial Pro VersaTop™. This innovative hydraulic cement floor topping provides an exposed aggregate look with a streamlined installation process. It resembles decorative concrete but doesn’t require mechanical prep or polishing. VersaTop™ is a time- and labor-saving solution for bringing beautiful, stone-like floors to biophilic projects.
Needed Now More Than Ever: Acoustical Privacy
As the world gets louder and more distracting, the need for acoustical privacy becomes even more important. In work environments, sub-par sound control compromises efficiency and profitability. Distracting noise can cause a 66% drop in performance, according to a report by the World Green Building Council (WGBC).[2] For diners, a noisy restaurant is rated to be more irritating than poor service.[3] In healthcare settings, protecting patient confidentiality, especially during sensitive conversations, is a crucial element of respectful, high-quality care.
For commercial spaces in need of acoustical privacy without impacting floor height, Maxxon offers Acousti-Top®, a low-profile, high-performance sound mat that provides code-level sound control without bulk. For commercial spaces in need of elevated sound control requirements or those undergoing transformation in adaptive reuse projects, Maxxon offers proven acoustic isolation systems backed by decades of sound control leadership for the building industry. Maxxon’s tested assemblies feature rated systems to help you achieve your desired level of sound control, including systems that can increase the IIC rating by up to 20 points. To optimize noise reduction, each acoustic isolation system includes a Maxxon® gypsum concrete underlayment, a Maxxon® Acousti-Mat®, and Maxxon® Acousti-Mat Perimeter Isolation Strips. Maxxon also offers an Interactive System Selector, making it easy to identify which acoustical isolation system is the best fit for a project’s sound control requirements.
While it’s impossible to fully predict the future, we know for certain that the demand for high-performing, time-saving products and exceptional problem-solving support will never go out of style.
As an industry leader in floor prep for over 50 years, Maxxon delivers increased jobsite efficiencies and lasting results. In addition, since all Maxxon commercial products are powered by American manufacturing, we don't anticipate any interruptions in our manufacturing capabilities due to tariffs.
[1] Conerly, B., Forbes.com. February 6, 2025.
