Debt (Details) Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member]	Jul. 27, 2012 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 27, 2012 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] CNY	Dec. 29, 2012 Leucadia National Corporation [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 11, 2012 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 24, 2012 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 6% Subordinated Debentures [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 6% Subordinated Debentures [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Other [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Other [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	$ 234,870,000	$ 197,741,000									$ 0	$ 148,176,000	$ 8,250,000	$ 9,250,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 0	$ 26,570,000	$ 40,265,000	$ 50,000	$ 50,000
Less current portion of debt	(27,570,000)	(41,265,000)
Long-term debt	207,300,000	156,476,000
Principal amount of debt redeemed	149,176,000	750,000	0								148,200,000
Interest paid upon redemption of debentures											1,300,000
Debt, stated interest rate (in hundredths)											6.00%		1.32%		1.59%		6.00%
Debt instrument maturity date											Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2021		Dec. 11, 2017		Jul. 27, 2013
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Number of banks in the credit agreement syndicate				4
Line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity					55,000,000	350,000,000			550,000,000	350,000,000
Maturity date				Jul. 27, 2013
Initial line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity						350,000,000
Initial maturity date of previous credit agreement				Jul. 28, 2012
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)							10.4
Issuance of long-term debt	200,000,000	0	0					200,000,000
Total cost of common stock repurchased							427,300,000
Debt instrument variable rate basis								Borrowings under the Agreement bear interest, at the Company's option, at LIBOR or Base Rate as defined by the Agreement, plus a variable premium. LIBOR advances may be based upon the one, three, or six-month LIBOR.
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, minimum (in hundredths)								11.25%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, maximum (in hundredths)								16.25%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, (in hundredths)								13.75%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, minimum (in hundredths)								1.25%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, maximum (in hundredths)								6.25%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans (in hundredths)								3.75%
Credit facility commitment fee, minimum (in hundredths)								2.50%
Credit facility commitment fee, maximum (in hundredths)								3.75%
Outstanding letters of credit								10,900,000
Terms of the letters of credit (in years)								1
Aggregate annual maturities of debt [Abstract]
2013	27,600,000
2014	1,100,000
2015	1,000,000
2016	1,000,000
2017	201,000,000
Thereafter	3,200,000
Interest paid	8,400,000	10,800,000	11,400,000
Interest capitalized	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0