Valhi Stockholder's Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2011 Long Term Incentive Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Director Plan	Dec. 31, 2012 Director Plan	Feb. 28, 2012 Director Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Series A Preferred Stock	Dec. 31, 2010 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2013 NL	Dec. 31, 2012 NL	Dec. 31, 2013 NL Director Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2011 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2010 Kronos Worldwide, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2013 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Director Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 CompX Director Plan
Schedule Of Stockholders Equity [Line Items]
Common stock, shares authorized	500,000,000	500,000,000		500,000,000
Common stock split proportion	3-for-1
Shares available for purchase												10,000,000				1,950,000
Treasury stock, shares		13,200,000		13,200,000	12,200,000								14,400,000	14,400,000		1,700,000	1,700,000	1,700,000	364,000
Repurchased shares																49,000	1,400,000
Aggregate purchase price of shares purchased by subsidiary			$ 8.7														$ 12.6
Percentage of shares held by majority-owned subsidiary that has to be considered for voting purpose		100.00%
Preferred stock, shares outstanding											5,000
Preferred stock liquidation preference, per share											$ 133,466.75
Preferred stock, aggregate liquidation preference											$ 667.3
Preferred stock, par value		$ 0.01		$ 0.01							$ 0.01
Non-cumulative dividend on preferred stock											6.00%
Outstanding stock options						0	0
Number of shares authorized										200,000
Shares awarded under new plan								5,000	6,000
Common stock available for future grant								189,000							190,000					190,000	190,000