Stronger together: The partnership between IBS 2026 and KBIS 2026

By Emma Peterson. 

Why bringing builders, roofers, designers and other construction professionals together at one show matters more than ever. 

One of the most exciting parts of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)’s 2026 International Builders’ Show (IBS) is that it was hosted at the same time and place as the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS)! This made the show a uniquely powerful opportunity for contractors that wanted to get a full picture of how all parts of the construction world interact with each other!  

To learn more about the benefits of working together with contractors across markets, we sat down with Kristina Hill, owner of HomeShield Roofing and Exteriors; Diana Barigas, co-owner of Property Master Solutions; and Amanda Gay, director of field training and engagement at Brava Roof Tile for a special Coffee Conversations® live from SRS Distribution’s garage on the expo floor! 

Products  

This year, the IBS expo floor covered 679,000 square feet with over 1,600 booths for attendees to explore. Add in the KBIS show, and those numbers jump to 2,250 exhibitors occupying 1.15 million square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits. With so many vendors across different markets, this was a great way for contractors to learn how products can be used in multiple ways. For example, Amanda shared what she had been seeing at the Brava booth, saying, “Obviously Brava products are great for roofing, but you can also use our tiles as siding and a lot of contractors are actually finding that these tiles are a great way to offer the aesthetic that homeowners want with more sustainability and lower maintenance.”  

People 

In addition to giving attendees the opportunity to explore products in a new light, this year’s show took networking to the next level. With nearly 117,000 registrants between IBS and KBIS, it was nearly impossible to not meet professionals in different markets than your own. This made it easier than ever to build the relationships needed to diversify offerings. Diana explained, “You’ll hear it everywhere, ‘we need to diversify.’ Diversification has become key to staying competitive these days and in Florida, a roofing license is different than a builder's license. So, this show is a great opportunity for roofers and other builders to meet up, partner up and work together to benefit both of their operations.”  

Community 

At the end of the day, this show created the type of community-focused space that is needed to push the entire industry forward. As Kristina put it, “Community is everything. For example, this winter, we had different vendors present on their products to our team and we opened that up to some other contractors and builders in the community. And yes, they are our competition in some ways, but we believe there's enough business for everybody and that we all do better when we lean into our community and learn from and with each other.” 

Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording to hear more insights from this expert panel!