What began as a service for oil and gas workers has expanded into the event industry, according to Michael Viramontes, owner of The Lavatory. The company is now one of the largest luxury restroom trailer providers in the western United States.
“It’s a relatively new industry,” Viramontes said. “It started in the oil and gas fields for higher-quality employees who wanted something nicer than a porta-potty. Then it got adapted to special events.”
Viramontes started The Lavatory seven years ago after returning from Brigham Young University in Utah to work at his family’s business, Expo Events & Tents.
“I had to think of something that was different enough yet similar that I could leverage my position here,” he said. “I bought my first trailer, and I’d never even been in one before.”
The Lavatory operates out of Fresno with additional locations in Stockton, Temecula, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. The company also maintains trailers in Hawaii and has grown its fleet to more than 175 units. It provides restroom, shower and laundry trailers for events, job sites and emergency response across the West.
“Weddings pretty much demand these kinds of restrooms when there’s nothing on site,” Viramontes said. “Even big events are starting to transition all to restroom trailers. The biggest complaints people have at events are the restrooms, so one way to provide value to guests is through the restroom trailers.”
The company also participates in disaster relief efforts.
“We were just on the Garnet Fire,” Viramontes said. “We do restroom, shower and laundry trailers. We’re a Cal Fire vendor as well as a U.S. Forest Service vendor.”
Accessibility remains important for The Lavatory.
“We’re all about being inclusive,” he said. “ADAs aren’t very common in our marketplace because of the price, but when it comes to corporate clients or schools, they have to comply. We want to be one location where the client can say, ‘Hey, we need ADA,’ and we can say, ‘Of course, we have it.’”
According to Viramontes, first-time users often express surprise at the difference between traditional portable toilets and luxury restroom trailers.
“They’re usually very surprised because the difference between a porta potty and a restroom trailer is huge,” Viramontes said. It’s like, night and day difference. And so people are usually very excited, because they feel like they’re private, it’s clean, comfortable and classy. That’s what we go for. We want to make sure everything’s clean.”
Looking forward, Viramontes expects higher standards within the industry.
“I think eventually we’re going to come to a day where porta-potties are not going to be allowed,” he said. “Knowing how California is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they required HVAC-equipped units.”
Despite growth across several states and increased demand for its services at both public events and during emergencies or disasters throughout western regions including California and Nevada (where wildfires frequently occur), The Lavatory continues its focus on personal connections with customers.
