Borrowings - Narrative (Details) (USD $) Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended														3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 12% Senior Secured Notes Maturing October 2017	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 12% Senior Secured Notes Maturing October 2017	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes 12% Senior Secured Notes Maturing October 2017	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing May 2019	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing May 2019	Nov. 30, 2010 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing May 2019	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes 6 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing 2013 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes 6 7/8% Senior Notes Maturing July 2015	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6 7/8% Senior Notes Maturing July 2015	Sep. 30, 2011 Senior Notes 8 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2016	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 8 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2016	Mar. 31, 2012 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	Jul. 17, 2012 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	May 31, 2010 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	May 11, 2010 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	Sep. 30, 2012 Convertible Subordinated Debt	Sep. 30, 2011 Convertible Subordinated Debt	Mar. 31, 2012 Convertible Subordinated Debt 7 1/2% Mandatory Convertible Subordinated Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Convertible Subordinated Debt 7 1/2% Mandatory Convertible Subordinated Notes [Member]	Jan. 12, 2010 Convertible Subordinated Debt 7 1/2% Mandatory Convertible Subordinated Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jun. 01, 2012 Junior Subordinated Notes	Sep. 30, 2011 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jan. 15, 2010 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jun. 15, 2006 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jun. 30, 2011 Cash Secured Loan	Sep. 30, 2012 Cash Secured Loan	Sep. 30, 2011 Cash Secured Loan	Nov. 30, 2010 Cash Secured Loan	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Secured Notes Payable	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Secured Notes Payable	Sep. 30, 2012 Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2011 Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Letter of Credit	Sep. 30, 2011 Letter of Credit	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum Convertible Subordinated Debt 7 1/2% Mandatory Convertible Subordinated Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum Convertible Subordinated Debt 7 1/2% Mandatory Convertible Subordinated Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 In Compliance [Member] Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Optional Redemption Under Indenture [Member] Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Not In Compliance [Member] Senior Notes Six and Five Eighths Percent Senior Secured Notes [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]
Credit facility borrowing capacity																																									$ 150,000,000	$ 22,000,000		$ 220,000,000
Inventory assets pledged as collateral																																									900,000,000
Outstanding borrowings under Secured Revolving Credit Facility																																									0		0
Letters of credit secured using cash collateral																																												24,700,000	28,900,000
Senior Notes [Abstract]
Percent of original debt amount required to be offered for repurchase (percent)					10.00%	35.00%																																														65.00%
Beazer homes' ownership interest in guarantor subsidiaries	100.00%
Minimum consolidated tangible net worth	85,000,000
Amount of original debt that could be repurchased					62,500,000
Consolidated tangible net worth	236,200,000
Aggregate principal amount of debt							300,000,000							250,000,000															57,500,000				75,000,000	103,100,000				32,600,000
Debt instrument stated interest rate (percent)						6.625%	6.625%	6.625%	12.00%	12.00%	12.00%	9.125%	9.125%			6.875%	6.875%	8.125%	8.125%			7.50%	7.25%							7.987%				7.987%
Cash used for redemption of debt									280,000,000
Outstanding debt that was redeemed or repurchased												15,000,000																								20,000,000
Aggregate purchase price of Senior Notes				210,000,000								14,600,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt	45,097,000	2,909,000	(43,901,000)	2,900,000					(42,400,000)			(30,000)								700,000
Debt redeemed or repurchased	310,387,000	215,376,000	619,806,000	209,500,000											164,500,000	37,000,000		8,000,000
Shares exchanged for common stock																																																		2.8
Tangible Capital [Abstract]
Tangible Equity Units (TEUs) issued during period (units)																				2,800,000	200,000	4,600,000	3,000,000	3,000,000
Senior amortizing notes exchanged for Tangible Equity Units																				7,200,000
Convertible Subordinated Debt [Abstract]
Fixed conversion ratio (shares per $25)																												1.0870
Number of common stock exchanged for debt (shares)																																																		2.2
Value of convertible debt exchanged for common stock																											48,100,000
Inducement expense recognized																											2,000,000
Debt instrument initial conversion rate (shares per $25)																																															0.89094		1.08696
Junior Subordinated Notes [Abstract]
Effective period of debt instrument interest rate																														10 years
Three-month LIBOR																														three-month LIBOR						LIBOR
Spread on three-month LIBOR rate (percent)																														2.45%						0.40%
Debt instrument variable rate floor (percent)																														4.25%
Debt instrument variable rate cap (percent)																														9.25%
Debt instrument redemption price (percent)						100.00%																									75.00%															100.00%		103.313%			101.00%	106.625%	100.00%
Annual redemption price rate increase (percent)																														1.785%
Unamortized accretion	3,082,000	23,243,000		23,243,000	3,082,000																									(49,200,000)
Secured Debt [Abstract]
Combined total of loan facilities																																				275,000,000		275,000,000
Additional borrowings under cash secured loan facilities																																			214,800,000
Long-term debt	$ 1,498,198,000	$ 1,488,826,000		$ 1,132,152,000	$ 1,201,067,000				$ 250,000,000																$ 9,402,000	$ 57,500,000		$ 9,400,000		$ 51,603,000		$ 49,537,000				$ 227,368,000	$ 247,368,000		$ 8,758,000	$ 2,269,000
Weighted average fixed interest rate of debt (percent)																																							3.79%