From Horse Trailer to Refill Shop

The Replenish trailer has been well used for horses, livestock and general removals for 20 years, having stood redundant for the last year or so due to safety reasons, starting Replenish was the perfect excuse to bring it back to life. 

Having an “attempt anything” husband is really handy at times like this. He started by stripping back all of the rotten wood and replacing it with fresh boards before she was then sent to a local spray shop for a full re-spray.

On her return it’s fair to say she looked fresh and bright in her new colours and needed a bit of putting back together to calm the look down a little. 

Next job for my handy husband was the wiring, with a little help from YouTube she received a fresh set of lights inside and out and new towbar electrics.

Once the wiring was completed the new floor boards could then be laid before the inside could start coming together. The original rubber was still in good condition so this was pressure washed and relaid. 

With big idea’s of the Replenish trailer doubling up as a shop and bar in the future we had to consider how best to lay it out. We decided on a fixed counter at the back ramp and shelves along the side to include a sink, the inside will develop with time and use. All of this was made with reclaimed wood so next job was sanding and treating in an attempt to protect the wood but leave it as natural looking as possible.

To give us more space inside my father in law also built us some stands (also from reclaimed wood) so that we could put the refills outside of the trailer meaning at busy times customers can fill their own bottles if they don’t have time to wait for us. 

The ramp rubber was also still in great condition so that got a freshen up with the pressure washer and the sheep’s wool it had collected picked off (this was a fun job!) before being relaid and held down with new trim. We also added post holders to the ramp so that we could put a rope down each side of the ramp to prevent customers falling off of the side.

To smarten up the outside the wheels were treated to hub caps to make them a little prettier and the spare wheel got a new branded cover. We opted for some moveable Replenish magnets to brand her as there are options of which top doors we will have open and what parts of the trailer you will see, I guess weather and positioning dependant. 

The handy husband them came back into action deciding on how to plumb the sink in, we had a lovely teak basin which we’d bought for our house but it just didn’t go in the end, this looks perfect in the trailer. We decided on a hand pump tap for now with potential of being converted to a battery powered tap if needed at a later date. 

The last internal job was to cover the walls with hessian to complete the rustic look.

I think it’s fair to say that the shop is still work in progress but the transformation so far is amazing.