For the quarter, sales increased 24%.
Excluding acquisitions, divestitures and currency, sales increased 18%.
Operating profit increased 27% and margins expanded 60 basis points to 20.1%, principally due to strong volume leverage.
Earnings per share increased an outstanding 34%.
Turning to our plumbing segment, sales increased 48%, excluding currency, led by exceptional growth from our North American and international faucet and shower businesses and our spa business.
International plumbing grew 50% in the quarter, excluding currency, as Hansgrohe sales rebounded sharply in nearly all of its markets.
North American plumbing posted strong growth of 47%, excluding currency, in the second quarter, led by approximately 75% growth at Watkins Wellness and robust double digit growth at Delta.
In our decorative architectural segment, sales declined 5% against the healthy 8% comp for the second quarter of 2020.
For the decorative segment overall, we now expect growth to be in the range of 2% to 5% for the full year.
We continued our aggressive share buyback during the quarter by repurchasing 6.6 million shares for $447 million.
As part of the accelerated share repurchase agreement that we executed during the quarter, we will additionally receive approximately 900,000 shares in July to complete that agreement, bringing our total shares repurchased year-to-date to 13.1 million shares for $750 million.
This is approximately 5% of our outstanding share account at the beginning of the year.
Underscoring our strong financial position and confidence in the future, we now anticipate deploying another $250 million in the second half of the year for share repurchases and acquisitions for a full year total of approximately $1 billion.
And with an improved outlook for plumbing based on the continued strength of both our North American and international operations, we are increasing our full year expectations of earnings per share to be in the range of $3.65 to $3.75 per share, up from our previous expectations of $3.50 to $3.70.
As a result, sales increased 24% with currency and net acquisitions, each contributing 3% to growth.
In local currency, North American sales increased 15% or 12%, excluding acquisitions.
In local currency, international sales increased a robust 50% or 49%, excluding acquisitions and divestitures.
Gross margin was 36.3% in the quarter, up 50 basis points as we leverage the strong volume growth.
Our SG&A as a percentage of sales improved 10 basis points to 16.2% due to our operating leverage.
We delivered strong second quarter operating profit of $438 million, up $94 million or 27% from last year, with operating margins expanding 60 basis points to 20.1%.
Our earnings per share was $1.14 in the quarter, a 34% increase compared to the second quarter of 2020, due to volume leverage, lower interest expense and lower share count.
Plumbing growth accelerated in the quarter with sales up 53%.
Currency contributed 5% to this growth and acquisitions, net of divestitures, contributed another 4%.
North American sales increased 47% in local currency or 41%, excluding acquisitions.
International plumbing sales increased 50% in local currency or 49%, excluding acquisitions and divestitures.
Segment operating margins expanded 230 basis points to 20.6% in the quarter, with operating profit of $274 million, up $115 million or 72%.
Given our second quarter results and current demand trends, we now expect plumbing segment's sales growth for 2021 to be in the 22% to 24% range, up from our previous guidance of 15% to 18%.
Finally, due to our improved sales outlook, we are increasing our full year margin expectations to approximately 18.5%, up from our previous guide of approximately 18%.
Decorative architectural declined 5% for the second quarter and was 6%, excluding the benefit from acquisitions.
Segment operating margins were 22.1% and operating profit in the quarter was $188 million due to lower volume, partially offset by cost productivity initiatives.
For full year 2021, we now expect decorative architectural segment's sales growth will be in the range of 2% to 5%, down from 4% to 9% due to lower than expected second quarter sales and persistent raw material constraints.
We continue to expect segment operating margins of approximately 19% as productivity initiatives in pricing help offset higher input costs.
Turning to Side 10.
Our balance sheet is strong with net debt to EBITDA at 1.3x.
We ended the quarter with approximately $1.8 billion of balance sheet liquidity, which includes full availability of our $1 billion revolver.
Working capital as a percent of sales, including our recent acquisitions, was 16.9%, an improvement of 120 basis points over prior year.
As we discussed last quarter, we terminated and annuitized our U.S. qualified defined benefit plans in the second quarter and had an approximate $100 million final cash contribution to the plans to complete this activity.
This removes approximately $140 million of pension liabilities from our balance sheet, and it will benefit our free cash flow by approximately $50 million through reduced cash contributions, starting in 2022.
Also, we received approximately $166 million from the redemption of our preferred stock related to the recent sale of our former cabinet business.
Finally, as Keith mentioned earlier, as of today, we repurchased 13.1 million shares in 2021 for $750 million.
We expect to deploy an additional $250 million for share repurchases or acquisitions for the remainder of this year.
Based on our second quarter performance and continued robust demand, we now anticipate overall sales growth of 14% to 16%, up from 10% to 14% with operating margins of approximately 17.5%, up from 17%.
Lastly, as Keith mentioned earlier, our updated 2021 earnings per share estimate range of $3.65 to $3.75 represents 19% earnings per share growth at the midpoint of the range.
This assumes the 252 million average diluted share count for the full year.
The fundamentals of our repair and remodel business are strong, with year-over-year home price appreciation of over 15% in May and existing home sales up over 23%.
And the consumer is strong, with nearly $2 trillion in savings and an increased desire to invest in their homes.

Summary:
For the quarter, sales increased 24%.
And with an improved outlook for plumbing based on the continued strength of both our North American and international operations, we are increasing our full year expectations of earnings per share to be in the range of $3.65 to $3.75 per share, up from our previous expectations of $3.50 to $3.70.
Our earnings per share was $1.14 in the quarter, a 34% increase compared to the second quarter of 2020, due to volume leverage, lower interest expense and lower share count.