Organization and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Organization	Organization— We are majority owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contran Corporation (“Contran”), which owns approximately 92% of our outstanding common stock at March 31, 2020. At March 31, 2020, a majority of Contran’s outstanding voting stock was held directly by Lisa K. Simmons and Serena Simmons Connelly and various family trusts established for the benefit of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly and their children and for which Ms. Simmons or Ms. Connelly, as applicable, served as trustee (collectively, the “Other Trusts”). In addition, each of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly served as co-chair of the Contran board of directors. The remainder of Contran’s outstanding voting stock was held by another trust (the “Family Trust”), which was established for the benefit of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly and their children and for which a third-party financial institution serves as trustee. Consequently, at March 31, 2020, Ms. Simmons, Ms. Connelly and the Family Trust may be deemed to control Contran, and us. Following the death of Ms. Connelly on April 22, 2020, Ms. Simmons and the Family Trust continue to directly hold their shares of Contran voting stock. Under the terms of the Contran Corporation Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement dated September 9, 2019 (the “Contran Stockholders Agreement”), and with respect to the shares of Contran voting stock held directly by Ms. Connelly at the time of her death (the “Connelly Direct Shares”), the independent executor of the estate of Ms. Connelly (prior to the completion of the probate of such estate) and the legatee of the Connelly Direct Shares (following completion of the probate of such estate) is required to vote the Connelly Direct Shares in the same manner as Ms. Simmons. Also under the terms of the Contran Stockholders Agreement, and with respect to the shares of Contran voting stock held by the Other Trusts for which Ms. Connelly previously served as trustee and for which her successor trustee is someone other than Ms. Simmons (the “Connelly Indirect Shares”), such successor trustee is also required to vote the Connelly Indirect Shares in the same manner as Ms. Simmons. Such voting rights of Ms. Simmons with respect to the Connelly Direct Shares and the Connelly Indirect Shares last through April 22, 2030 and are personal to Ms. Simmons. Consequently, as of April 22, 2020, Ms. Simmons and the Family Trust may be deemed to control Contran and us.
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation— Consolidated in this Quarterly Report are the results of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including NL Industries, Inc., Kronos Worldwide, Inc., CompX International Inc., Tremont LLC, Basic Management, Inc. (“BMI”) and The LandWell Company (“LandWell”). Kronos (NYSE: KRO), NL (NYSE: NL) and CompX (NYSE American: CIX) each file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Quarterly Report have been prepared on the same basis as the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 that we filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020 (the “2019 Annual Report”). In our opinion, we have made all necessary adjustments (which include only normal recurring adjustments), in order to state fairly, in all material respects, our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows as of the dates and for the periods presented. We have condensed the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2019 contained in this Quarterly Report as compared to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements at that date, and we have omitted certain information and footnote disclosures (including those related to the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2019) normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Our results of operations for the interim period ended March 31, 2020 may not be indicative of our operating results for the full year. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Quarterly Report should be read in conjunction with our 2019 Consolidated Financial Statements contained in our 2019 Annual Report. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Valhi, Inc. and its subsidiaries (NYSE: VHI), taken as a whole.
Recent accounting pronouncements	In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2019-12, Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which changes the accounting for certain income tax transactions and reduces complexity in accounting for income taxes in certain areas. The ASU introduces new guidance including providing a policy election for an entity to not allocate consolidated current and deferred tax expense when a member of a consolidated tax return is not subject to income tax in its separate financial statements and is a disregarded entity by the taxing authority; and providing guidance to evaluate whether a step-up in tax basis of goodwill relates to a business combination in which book goodwill was recognized or a separate transaction. The ASU also changes existing guidance in a number of areas, including: the method of making an intraperiod allocation of total income tax expense if there is a loss in continuing operations and gains outside of continuing operations; determining when a deferred tax liability is recognized after an investor in a non-U.S. entity transitions to or from the equity method of accounting; accounting for tax law changes and year-to-date losses in interim periods; and determining how to apply the income tax guidance to franchise taxes that are partially based on income. We adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of this ASU in the first quarter of 2020 did not have a material effect on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Organization and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Organization— We are majority owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contran Corporation (“Contran”), which owns approximately 92% of our outstanding common stock at March 31, 2020. At March 31, 2020, a majority of Contran’s outstanding voting stock was held directly by Lisa K. Simmons and Serena Simmons Connelly and various family trusts established for the benefit of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly and their children and for which Ms. Simmons or Ms. Connelly, as applicable, served as trustee (collectively, the “Other Trusts”). In addition, each of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly served as co-chair of the Contran board of directors. The remainder of Contran’s outstanding voting stock was held by another trust (the “Family Trust”), which was established for the benefit of Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly and their children and for which a third-party financial institution serves as trustee. Consequently, at March 31, 2020, Ms. Simmons, Ms. Connelly and the Family Trust may be deemed to control Contran, and us.

Following the death of Ms. Connelly on April 22, 2020, Ms. Simmons and the Family Trust continue to directly hold their shares of Contran voting stock. Under the terms of the Contran Corporation Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement dated September 9, 2019 (the “Contran Stockholders Agreement”), and with respect to the shares of Contran voting stock held directly by Ms. Connelly at the time of her death (the “Connelly Direct Shares”), the independent executor of the estate of Ms. Connelly (prior to the completion of the probate of such estate) and the legatee of the Connelly Direct Shares (following completion of the probate of such estate) is required to vote the Connelly Direct Shares in the same manner as Ms. Simmons. Also under the terms of the Contran Stockholders Agreement, and with respect to the shares of Contran voting stock held by the Other Trusts for which Ms. Connelly previously served as trustee and for which her successor trustee is someone other than Ms. Simmons (the “Connelly Indirect Shares”), such successor trustee is also required to vote the Connelly Indirect Shares in the same manner as Ms. Simmons. Such voting rights of Ms. Simmons with respect to the Connelly Direct Shares and the Connelly Indirect Shares last through April 22, 2030 and are personal to Ms. Simmons. Consequently, as of April 22, 2020, Ms. Simmons and the Family Trust may be deemed to control Contran and us.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation— Consolidated in this Quarterly Report are the results of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including NL Industries, Inc., Kronos Worldwide, Inc., CompX International Inc., Tremont LLC, Basic Management, Inc. (“BMI”) and The LandWell Company (“LandWell”). Kronos (NYSE: KRO), NL (NYSE: NL) and CompX (NYSE American: CIX) each file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Quarterly Report have been prepared on the same basis as the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 that we filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020 (the “2019 Annual Report”). In our opinion, we have made all necessary adjustments (which include only normal recurring adjustments), in order to state fairly, in all material respects, our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows as of the dates and for the periods presented. We have condensed the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2019 contained in this Quarterly Report as compared to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements at that date, and we have omitted certain information and footnote disclosures (including those related to the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2019) normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Our results of operations for the interim period ended March 31, 2020 may not be indicative of our operating results for the full year. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Quarterly Report should be read in conjunction with our 2019 Consolidated Financial Statements contained in our 2019 Annual Report.

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Valhi, Inc. and its subsidiaries (NYSE: VHI), taken as a whole.

Recent accounting pronouncements

In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2019-12, Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which changes the accounting for certain income tax transactions and reduces complexity in accounting for income taxes in certain areas. The ASU introduces new guidance including providing a policy election for an entity to not allocate consolidated current and deferred tax expense when a member of a consolidated tax return is not subject to income tax in its separate financial statements and is a disregarded entity by the taxing authority; and providing guidance to evaluate whether a step-up in tax basis of goodwill relates to a business combination in which book goodwill was recognized or a separate transaction. The ASU also changes existing guidance in a number of areas, including: the method of making an intraperiod allocation of total income tax expense if there is a loss in continuing operations and gains outside of continuing operations; determining when a deferred tax liability is recognized after an investor in a non-U.S. entity transitions to or from the equity method of accounting; accounting for tax law changes and year-to-date losses in interim periods; and determining how to apply the income tax guidance to franchise taxes that are partially based on income. We adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of this ASU in the first quarter of 2020 did not have a material effect on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.