Walking the floor of the National Association of Home Builders convention, it s hard to comprehend recent news reports that as many as 20,000 builders have closed up shop in the last two years.

Sure, the crowds are thinner, and the association itself projects attendance will be down slightly this year, but the show remains almost unfathomably huge, with some 90,000 in attendance. It covers more than 850,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Las Vegas Convention Center that s more than 18 football fields covered with men in crew cuts and sport shirts (garnished at times with a gaggle of attractive women, invariably clad in fluorescent hardhats and toolbelts) hawking everything from storm windows to swimming pool accessories.

It turns out, an association spokeswoman tells me, that those 20,000 builders didn t entirely go out of business they just changed the focus of their business. With actual building out of fashion for the foreseeable future, many have turned to remodeling or fix-it jobs to pay the bills. Hence, they are here and the suppliers who make up most of the exhibitors are desperate to sell them stuff.

The marketing onslaught can be over the top at times Impressing the World With Decorative Asphalt, read one banner but some products stand out from the pack. Here are three that caught my eye:

See 3 gadgets that could make your home sell.

BreezeDry

breezedry.com. Not to mention, the size is not ideal for customers who live in tiny apartments. But BreezeDry s chief executive, Brent Dobbs, tells me a New York developer is considering putting the appliances in 200 of his units. Wonder what the rent is?

Hybrid Bidet

That s what the banner says and, well, that s one booth you just have to check out. I was expecting some sort of device that runs on either solar power or fossil fuels, depending on outside conditions. The marketing materials, from Korea s OWI Digital, note that it features new technology that doesn t require electricity. But I m still not sure what makes it a hybrid. Perhaps it s the "unique front nozzle for men wash. I wanted to ask the salesman about how this differed from last-generation bidets but his English was not so good (it s also not clear what it costs). Still, he pointed me to a pamphlet that claimed the device helped prevent hemorrhoids and constipation. Thanks!

Wireless Thermostat

In a convention with a distinct "green living theme, one of the coolest features I found (yes, cooler than the bidet) was the wireless thermostat from Honeywell. It allows homeowners to control the temperature in different zones throughout the house with a handheld thermostat a sort of hot-and-cold remote control. Zone climate control is a popular green innovation: Why waste money heating the great room if you're already curled up under the covers watching a movie in the bedroom? And the idea of tweaking the temperature without even getting out of bed is even more appealing.

Despite the gloom and doom of this challenging market, as builders generously call it, most retain the can-do attitude of men who have rarely seen a sink they can t fix or a toy set they couldn t assemble before dawn. But if you talk to most of them you will hear the discouraged voices of a group who believes the forecast, shared by economists in a panel on Tuesday, that a recovery is not likely until 2010 at best.

The only guy I ve met thus far with a rosy outlook was a gentleman on my first night here who was cheerfully losing $15 per hand at blackjack. Yeah, he was here for the builders show, he told me. But his business was auctioning off excess properties that were built during the boom. He said business was good.

Brad Reagan is covering this year s homebuilder s convention for SmartMoney.com. Previously: See What Could Make Homes Sell? Builders Weigh In.