Michael Bradley's side were on course for back-to-back defeats until the Scottish international was on target in the 78th minute.
But while it was Laidlaw who took the glory, Houston maintains the pack deserve just as much credit for their display which included earning a penalty try.
Houston said: "Greg (Laidlaw) does that day in, day out at training, so it was great to see him do it in a match situation.
"It wasn't that surprising either. Greg has been a really composed individual on and off the pitch for a long time. That comes through in the way he plays. When he speaks everyone listens.
"He doesn't say a lot, but is concise in what he says. Our whole team has moulded into the way he plays and everyone follows his lead.
"It's always tough winning in Cardiff and it was another really physical game. However, in support of the new style Edinburgh are playing, we managed to dominate them in the scrum which was awesome to watch.
"Having a strong scrum makes such a huge difference to backs in terms of going forward. It means the ball is coming as you want it and you do not have to adjust to what is happening to the scrum since you can predict what is going to happen.
"On the other hand, a retreating scrum makes it a lot harder in defence."
Speaking ahead of the clash against new boys Zebra, the Scotland sevens player believes the Italians will be doing all they can to claim their maiden win in the tournament.
"Zebre are a bit of an unknown quantity, but they will be desperate to get a first win and we will be desperate not to give them that," Houston said.
"It has always been high scoring when we have played the Italian teams, so I suspect this might be similar.
"Two games will be enough for us to analyse them. You can tell what they will be likely to do, but we now have to keep it going,"
63x46.png){kind=logo}