Toilet Repair in Hawaii

Weighted across 397,285 occupied homes. Separately, 68% of the state’s 446,443 housing units — a wider universe, because it includes vacant ones — were built before 1990, which is before the Energy Policy Act of 1992 set a 1.6 gallon flush maximum.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, tables B25003 (tenure) and B25034 (year structure built), 2023 release. Flush volumes: US EPA WaterSense, tank-type toilet supporting statement.

A state average hides the thing that matters. Of the 30 towns we route in here, 8 are mostly pre-1990 housing and 5 are mostly post-1990 housing; on tenure, 1 are strongly owner-occupied and 6 are renter-heavy.

The two are close to independent of each other, so an old town is not reliably an owning town or a renting one. That is why every town page below carries its own pair of figures rather than inheriting these.

The fault list does not vary by state. A running tank is the flapper or the fill valve, and EPA publishes a ten-minute test that tells them apart. Water at the base is four different faults, one of which is condensation and not a leak at all. A fixture that rocks is the one that causes the seal failure you will meet later.

What varies by town is who fixes it. In a rented home the toilet is normally the landlord’s repair, and in the towns above that is a large share of households.

Checking a credential in Hawaii

Hawaii licenses are issued by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing, which publishes a public search you can use before work begins.

• Aiea 69% owner-occupied · 87% pre-1990
• Captain Cook 72% owner-occupied · 60% pre-1990
• Ewa Beach 69% owner-occupied · 33% pre-1990
• Haiku 67% owner-occupied · 49% pre-1990
• Haleiwa 52% owner-occupied · 84% pre-1990
• Hana 52% owner-occupied · 50% pre-1990
• Hauula 53% owner-occupied · 72% pre-1990
• Hawi 73% owner-occupied · 64% pre-1990
• Hilo 66% owner-occupied · 72% pre-1990
• Holualoa 60% owner-occupied · 68% pre-1990
• Honokaa 84% owner-occupied · 74% pre-1990
• Honolulu 52% owner-occupied · 77% pre-1990
• Kaaawa 65% owner-occupied · 74% pre-1990
• Kahuku 63% owner-occupied · 84% pre-1990
• Kahului 63% owner-occupied · 65% pre-1990
• Kailua 64% owner-occupied · 77% pre-1990
• Kailua Kona 71% owner-occupied · 53% pre-1990
• Kamuela 78% owner-occupied · 36% pre-1990
• Kaneohe 77% owner-occupied · 85% pre-1990
• Kapolei 73% owner-occupied · 28% pre-1990
• Laie 43% owner-occupied · 74% pre-1990
• Mililani 80% owner-occupied · 59% pre-1990
• Ocean View 75% owner-occupied · 9% pre-1990
• Pearl City 68% owner-occupied · 86% pre-1990
• Wahiawa 30% owner-occupied · 63% pre-1990
• Waialua 62% owner-occupied · 88% pre-1990
• Waianae 61% owner-occupied · 68% pre-1990
• Waikoloa 78% owner-occupied · 36% pre-1990
• Waimanalo 79% owner-occupied · 68% pre-1990
• Waipahu 68% owner-occupied · 69% pre-1990