Photo via The Lavatory | The Lavatory tapped into a niche industry — restroom trailers — seven years ago. Born out of the oil-and-gas industry, restroom trailers offer a more comfortable experience for special events as well as disasters.

What started as a niche service for oil and gas workers has changed the way events are held, according to Michael Viramontes, owner of The Lavatory, one of the West’s largest luxury restroom trailer companies.

“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 launched The Lavatory seven years ago after returning home from Brigham Young University in Utah to work in his family’s event 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.”

Today, The Lavatory operates out of Fresno with additional locations in Stockton, Temecula, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas — and even has trailers in Hawaii. The fleet has more than 175 trailers. The company provides restroom, shower and laundry trailers for events, job sites and emergency response efforts 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.”

Outside of events, The Lavatory also serves on the front lines of disaster relief.

“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 is another key part of the business, Viramontes said, highlighting The Lavatory’s focus on ADA accessibility.

“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.’”

When guests first experience one of the company’s trailers, Viramontes said the reaction is almost universal.

“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 ahead, he believes the industry is moving toward higher standards in the next few years.

“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 its growth, The Lavatory’s mission remains to connect with its users personally.

“We keep them clean, classy and comfortable,” Viramontes said. “We answer 24/7—we’re the ones that will be there on site at 3 a.m. when the lights go out. We consider ourselves one of the leaders in the industry by providing that kind of service.”