Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 25, 2010	Dec. 26, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Facilities vehicles and equipment [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 Facilities vehicles and equipment [Member]	Dec. 26, 2009 Facilities vehicles and equipment [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 United States Department of Commerce and United States International Trade Commission Antidumping Investigation [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 United States Department of Commerce and United States International Trade Commission Antidumping Investigation [Member] Department of Commerce [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 United States Department of Commerce and United States International Trade Commission Antidumping Investigation [Member] International Trade Commission [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance Settlement [Member] Bilston, Great Britain [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance Settlement [Member] Fulton, Mississippi [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance Settlement [Member] Wynne, Arkansas [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 United States Department of Commerce Antidumping Review [Member]	Dec. 27, 2008 United States Department of Commerce Antidumping Review [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Canadian Dumping and Countervail Investigation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Supplier Litigation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Operating Properties [Member] Mueller Copper Tube Products, Inc [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 Operating Properties [Member] Belding Michigan Lead Matters [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-operating Properties [Member] Southeast Kansas Sites [Member]	Dec. 27, 2008 Non-operating Properties [Member] Southeast Kansas Sites [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-operating Properties [Member] Eureka Mills Site [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-operating Properties [Member] Shasta Area Mine Sites [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 Non-operating Properties [Member] Shasta Area Mine Sites [Member]	Dec. 26, 2009 Non-operating Properties [Member] Shasta Area Mine Sites [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-operating Properties [Member] Lead Refinery Site [Member]	Dec. 25, 2010 Non-operating Properties [Member] Lead Refinery Site [Member]	Dec. 26, 2009 Non-operating Properties [Member] Lead Refinery Site [Member]
Site Contingency [Line Items]
Environmental expense	$ 400,000	$ 5,400,000	$ 1,100,000																			$ 600,000	$ 700,000	$ 500,000	$ 100,000	$ 100,000	$ 100,000
Environmental reserves	22,892,000	23,902,000																400,000		9,500,000
Expected environmental expenditures for 2012	1,300,000
Expected environmental expenditures for 2013	1,100,000
Expected environmental expenditures for 2014	1,000,000
Expected environmental expenditures for 2015	500,000
Expected environmental expenditures for 2016	500,000
Expected environmental expenditures after 2016	9,000,000
Number of former smelters																			2
Number of parties involved in settlement negotiations																			1
Number of smelting sites the company will share the preliminary site assessment costs																			1
Number of potentially responsible parties sharing site assessment cost																			2
Annual amount spent																					2,500,000
Settlement claims paid to the State of Utah																					250,000
Mitigation estimates minimum																	900,000					8,200,000			2,100,000
Mitigation estimates maximum																						11,500,000			3,300,000
Estimated number of years until mitigation resolution																	10Y					20Y			20Y
Civil fine paid																		176,000
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Period of measures under antidumping investigation (in years)															5Y
Insurance settlement proceeds										35,300,000
Number of subsidiaries jointly filed antidumping petitions							2
Assignment of antidumping duty rate on U.S. imports by Company subsidiaries (in hundredths)													19.80%	48.33%
Reserve for Antidumping Duties for Report Issued on April 19, 2010													1,000,000	4,200,000
Number of subsidiaries that filed related to supplier litigation																2
Number of Xiamen Lota employees that filed a patent lawsuit																2
Number of US patents alleged by the plaintiff																3
Gain Contingencies [Line Items]
Final antidumping rates minimum (in hundredths)								24.89%	11.25%
Final antidumping rates maximum (in hundredths)								27.16%	60.85%
Insurance claim deductible amount										500,000
Pre-tax gain from settlement										21,200,000	1,500,000
Period of production curtailment for cleanup and repairs (in weeks)											1W
Book value of inventories prior to potential scrap recoveries												2,700,000
Net book value of certain production equipment and building structures that were damaged												9,600,000
Receivable for clean-up and other out of pocket costs incurred												2,500,000
Advance from insurance company												10,000,000
Net claim receivable											1,500,000	4,800,000
Subsequent advance from insurance company												40,000,000
Property damage claim											1,500,000	4,800,000
Maximum amount payable under the Consulting agreement	6,700,000
Litigation Settlement [Abstract]
Litigation settlement	10,500,000
Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]
Lease payments scheduled for 2012				7,800,000
Lease payments scheduled for 2013				6,700,000
Lease payments scheduled for 2014				5,000,000
Lease payments scheduled for 2015				4,500,000
Lease payments scheduled for 2016				3,800,000
Lease payments scheduled after 2016				6,400,000
Lease expense				$ 8,800,000	$ 8,000,000	$ 8,600,000
Long-term Purchase Commitment [Line Items]
Consulting agreement term (in years)	6Y
Initial period of the consulting agreement (in years)	4Y
Initial period rate of pay based on final base compensation (in hundredths)	two-thirds
Final period of the consulting agreement (in years)	2Y
Final period rate of pay of based on final base compensation (in hundredths)	one-third