It's been a busy year for builders.

"It's been the busiest time since we've been in business, since 1994," said Vicki Bischoff with Suncrest Design and Construction.

She says there are plenty of new homes in the works, but remodeling projects are especially popular these days.

"I think people are spending a lot more time in their homes, a lot more time cooking on their own, and they finally want to take care of those things that bug them, or create more space within the confines of those same walls," Bischoff said. "I'm seeing that a lot, where the design was originally closed, or used a lot of space for hallways and foyers, and didn't use the space as efficiently as it could be used. So we're coming in and helping people create a lot more usable space within the confines of their own walls."

Local lenders have seen a surge in HELOCs; home equity lines of credit that can be used for remodeling projects.

"We've seen home equity lines of credit increase by 30%," said Nick Serrano, VP of Sales for Greater Nevada Mortgage.  "It's an equity line against your property, think to a certain extent a credit card on your home, but its collateralized against your home. So you can come in and get $50,000, $100,000, based on your loan-to-value, or how much equity we're willing to give you as a lender.  And you can draw on that and pay it down and draw on it, much like a credit card, but it allows you the flexibility to use the equity in your home to your advantage, how you see fit."

HELOCs go into second position behind a first mortgage, and those rates are at near record lows right now.

"One thing that has caused the HELOCs to be so popular right now is many people refinanced into low interest rates earlier this year," Serrano said. "So they don't want to jeopardize that new, first mortgage they have and that great rate, but they want to still tap into that equity. So the HELOC is a great way to get that done, to add access to your equity without jeopardizing the great rate got on your first mortgage earlier this year."

And builders are working to make sure these projects go safely for both crews and homeowners.

"The state of Nevada has been very supportive of the construction industry and we're very thankful for that," Bischoff said. "OSHA has been around inspecting to make sure everyone is working safe to keep working, and we just say that over and over again, work safe to keep working. We can't stop in the middle of someone's remodel when they don't have a kitchen or working bathroom; we do have to keep going as safely as possible."

For more on Greater Nevada Mortgage click here

For more on Suncrest Design and Construction click here