Building activity is on the rise in Bend.

But not enough for some local contractors, who are still struggling to find work.

The city of Bend issued 165 permits for residential and commercial additions and remodeling work through the first half of 2012. While that’s up from 136 during the same time span in 2011, it hasn’t been enough for contractors like Doug Hull of Hulls Constructionto rehire some of the workers he’s had to lay off since the market crash.

In the first half of 2008, as the real estate boom racedtoward a meltdown, the city issued 239 permits for additions or remodels in Bend. Even in 2009, as the market came to a virtual standstill, Hulls Construction employed nine people.

Today, it’s just Hull and his son, Trevor.

Total sales at Hulls dropped from about $2.2 million in 2008, to $1.5 million in 2009, to $800,000 in 2010. If not for a new home he helped build at Black Butte Ranch last year, Hull would have finished 2011 with about $400,000 in sales.

“Honestly, I’m sinking,” Hull said. “There are some people looking (at possible remodel work) and that type of thing. But the market is still really poor right now.”

Not everyone is having as tough a go in Central Oregon.

At Structure Development Northwest, calls for maintenance needs — such as bathroom, kitchen and floor repairs — have picked up this summer, said co-owner Scott Houck.

There’s not much of the new-home activity that drove the company until the market crash. In fact, Structure wasn’t even in the remodel market until 2010. It specialized in new-home construction until then.

“What we’re starting to find now is that a lot of people do have the money” for new remodel projects, Houck said.

A lot of those projects were needed years ago. But homeowners have waited. Many didn’t have the equity in their homes to obtain loans to finance the work.

And as homeowners held off on maintenance needs and home building dried up, construction work in Central Oregon took a huge hit.

Deschutes County reported 3,260 jobs in construction, mining and logging in May, down from an average 8,200 in 2006 and 2007, according to data from the Oregon Employment Department.

But some companies are cautiously optimistic that the building market is turning a corner this summer.

Mike Davis, owner of TMT Home Remodelers in Redmond, has fielded calls this month from three homeowners asking about kitchen and bathroom remodels.

That wouldn’t have been much to jump for joy about in 2006. But this is a far different market, Davis said, and any work is good work.

“Actually, until about the last couple of weeks, we looked really, really bad,” said Davis, who laid off two of his four builders in March. “But the phone has started ringing, which is somewhat encouraging.”

Lower costs for construction and labor are driving an uptick in building activity this year, according to Andy High, vice president of government affairs for the Central Oregon Builders Association.

But much of that pickup is being driven by small projects, like new kitchen cabinets or floor tiles.

Those jobs don’t provide nearly the same revenue that building home and office additions can bring to contractors.

“I’m hearing from people who were going to sell three or four years ago, but the market tanked,” High said. “So now, instead of selling, people are deciding to go ahead and invest in a remodel.”

Still, Davis of TMT Remodelers isn’t seeing major remodel jobs just yet. Uncertainty over where home prices will go later this year seems to have people looking for new home projects, but not going as far as committing to them, he said.

“We’re definitely seeing positive signs. A lot more people are thinking about remodeling, so I’m hoping things will continue to get better,” Davis said. But “hoping and expecting are two different things.”