Debt (Details)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended											0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 27, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 23, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member]	Feb. 02, 2015 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 02, 2015 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] CNY	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Base Rate [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Minimum [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Minimum [Member] Base Rate [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Maximum [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Credit Agreement [Member] Maximum [Member] Base Rate [Member]	Dec. 27, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	May 29, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 21, 2014 Mueller Europe Limited [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 21, 2014 Mueller Europe Limited [Member] GBP (£)	Dec. 27, 2014 Mueller Europe Limited [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 Mueller Xingrong [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2014 Other [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Other [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	$ 241,444,000	$ 235,333,000																					$ 200,000,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 29,968,000	$ 28,033,000	$ 6,250,000	$ 7,250,000	$ 5,226,000	$ 50,000
Less current portion of debt	(36,194,000)	(29,083,000)
Long-term debt	205,250,000	206,250,000
Debt, stated interest rate (in hundredths)																							1.53%		5.60%		1.16%
Debt instrument maturity date																							Dec. 11, 2017		Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2021
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument variable rate basis					bear an interest rate at the latest base-lending rate published by the People’s Bank of China			Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest, at the Company’s option, at LIBOR or Base Rate as defined by the Credit Agreement, plus a variable premium. LIBOR advances may be based upon the one, three, or six-month LIBOR.
Basis spread on variable rate (in hundredths)									1.375%	0.375%		1.125%	0.125%		1.625%	0.625%
Credit facility commitment fee (in hundredths)											0.25%			0.375%
Outstanding letters of credit								10,500,000									0
Terms of the letters of credit								1 year
Line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity						37,100,000	230,000,000											350,000,000	62,200,000	40,000,000
Line of credit facility, current borrowing capacity																		200,000,000
Maturity date					Sep. 24, 2014
Initial term of the Invoice Facility																			2 years	2 years
Trade accounts receivable	275,065,000	271,847,000																			57,900,000
Range of period at maturity date				9 months
Total borrowings																					0	35,200,000
Aggregate annual maturities of debt [Abstract]
2015	36,194,000
2016	1,000,000
2017	201,000,000
2018	1,000,000
2019	1,000,000
Thereafter	1,250,000
Long-term debt	241,444,000	235,333,000																					200,000,000	200,000,000	29,968,000	28,033,000	6,250,000	7,250,000	5,226,000	50,000
Net interest expense [Abstract]
Interest expense	6,393,000	5,147,000	6,890,000
Capitalized interest	(653,000)	(1,157,000)	0
Net interest expense	5,740,000	3,990,000	6,890,000
Interest Paid	$ 5,700,000	$ 4,900,000	$ 8,400,000