The code below produces two solids i.s.o. one:
import cadquery as cq
from cadquery import exporters
points = [(20, 20), (20, 30), (30, 30), (30, 20)]
solid = (cq.Workplane("YZ")
.polyline(points)
.close()
.extrude(distance=10., both=True))
It looks like combineWithBase does not fuse if there is no parent solid. I think we should change this behavior.