XML 11 R39.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9
Organization and Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
1 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 1 Months Ended
May 31, 2014
Mar. 31, 2015
Director
Feb. 28, 2014
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Dividend declared $ 0.02us-gaap_CommonStockDividendsPerShareDeclared    
Contran      
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Parent company ownership interest   93.00%us-gaap_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageByParent
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= vhi_ContranMember
 
Common stock, voting rights   The voting agreement expires in February 2017 (unless Ms. Lisa Simmons, Ms. Connelly and Ms. Annette Simmons otherwise mutually agree), and the ability of Ms. Lisa Simmons, Ms. Connelly, and Ms. Annette Simmons to each designate one member of the Contran board is dependent upon each of their continued beneficial ownership of at least 5% of the combined voting stock of Contran.  
Voting agreement expiration date   2017-02  
Size of board of directors   5vhi_NumberOfBoardOfDirectors
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= vhi_ContranMember
 
Contran | Minimum      
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Minimum percentage of voting stock ownership required to designate a board member     5.00%vhi_VotingStockOwnershipPercentageRequiredToDesignateBoardMemberUnderVotingAgreement
/ dei_LegalEntityAxis
= vhi_ContranMember
/ us-gaap_RangeAxis
= us-gaap_MinimumMember