A one-piece toilet leaking at its base in a Freeland house, pulled, set on a new wax ring and flushed eight times in July 2026
Location: Freeland, Whidbey Island, WA
Service: Toilet pull-and-reset
Technician: Chase
In July 2026 a Freeland homeowner called about the toilet in the downstairs bathroom, which was leaking around its base. It had been set by a handyman, and when Chase pulled it the cause was plain: the bowl had made little to no contact with the wax ring, so the seal never had a chance to work.
What We Did
Chase did not reuse anything that had been holding the old seal. He took out all of the mounting hardware and replaced it with new, then set the toilet back down on a fresh wax ring so the bowl bore evenly on the seal this time. With the toilet tightened down he flushed it eight times, watching the base on every flush, and nothing came out from under it.
Only then did he seal the base, running a bead of clear seam seal around it, and he asked the homeowner to leave the toilet unused for about four hours while the sealant cured.
During the test flushes Chase also heard what sounded like a sewage ejector pump kicking on somewhere in the house. Pumps like that need their own attention, and on the island we service them too.
Why It Matters
- A leak at the base is a seal problem. Caulk or sealant around a toilet is the last step of a proper set, never the fix for one that leaks. The toilet has to come up and go back down on a new seal.
- New hardware with a new seal. Chase replaced every piece of mounting hardware along with the wax ring, so nothing from the failed set was carried into the new one.
- Flush before you seal. Eight flushes with the base in plain view will show a bad set. Seal first, and a leak can run under the bead and into the subfloor without anyone seeing it.
Why Freeland
Freeland sits at the head of Holmes Harbor in the middle of South Whidbey, and the downtown has never had a sewer system, so most of the houses around it drain to septic tanks rather than a town line. That makes the plumbing inside a Freeland house worth getting right the first time, from the wax ring under the toilet to any pump that lifts waste toward the tank. We reach Freeland on the Mukilteo to Clinton ferry and a short drive up the island, and South Whidbey calls like this one are routine work for our crew.
A toilet that rocks, weeps or leaks at the base? Call and tell us what it is doing. Related: toilet repair and replacement · plumbing in Freeland · Whidbey Island plumbing questions, answered · a toilet repair in Langley · toilet questions, answered