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Commitments and Contingencies (Additional Information) (Detail) (USD $)
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
12 Months Ended 92 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Mar. 31, 2015
Unfavorable Regulatory Action [Member]    
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]    
Possible amount of claims in settlement for compliance violations   200us-gaap_LossContingencyEstimateOfPossibleLoss
/ us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis
= us-gaap_UnfavorableRegulatoryActionMember
Goodrich And PolyOne [Member]    
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]    
Costs incurred for environmental remediation services 2,805us-gaap_EnvironmentalRemediationExpense
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= wlk_GoodrichAndPolyOneMember
 
Goodrich And PolyOne [Member] | Settled Litigation [Member]    
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]    
Percentage of costs related to environmental issues to be paid by PolyOne   100.00%wlk_SiteContingencyThirdPartyRecoveryPercentage
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= wlk_GoodrichAndPolyOneMember
/ us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis
= us-gaap_SettledLitigationMember
Minimum number of years between arbitrations   5 years
Goodrich And PolyOne [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member]    
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Line Items]    
Reimbursement of remediation costs sought by PolyOne   1,400us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue
/ us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis
= wlk_GoodrichAndPolyOneMember
/ us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis
= us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember