Borrowings - Narrative (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended															12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended																			2 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 5 3/4% Senior Notes Maturing June 2019	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 5 3/4% Senior Notes Maturing June 2019	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Feb. 01, 2013 Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Jul. 18, 2012 Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2018	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2018	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 12% Senior Secured Notes Maturing October 2017	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing May 2019	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 9 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing May 2019	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 6 7/8% Senior Notes Maturing July 2015	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes 8 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2016	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 8 1/8% Senior Notes Maturing June 2016	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units	Jul. 17, 2012 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	Mar. 31, 2012 Senior Notes Tangible Equity Units TEUs	Sep. 30, 2014 Junior Subordinated Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jan. 15, 2010 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jun. 15, 2006 Junior Subordinated Notes	Jun. 30, 2011 Cash Secured Loans	Sep. 30, 2014 Cash Secured Loans loan_facility	Sep. 30, 2013 Cash Secured Loans	Nov. 30, 2010 Cash Secured Loans	Sep. 30, 2014 Other Secured Notes Payable	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Secured Notes Payable	Sep. 30, 2014 Secured Revolving Credit Facility lender	Sep. 30, 2013 Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2014 Letter of Credit	Sep. 30, 2013 Letter of Credit	Sep. 30, 2014 Minimum Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 Minimum Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2014 Minimum Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2014 Maximum Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 Maximum Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2014 Maximum Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2014 In Compliance Senior Notes 5 3/4% Senior Notes Maturing June 2019	Sep. 30, 2014 In Compliance Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 In Compliance Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2014 In Compliance Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2014 Optional Redemption Under Indenture Senior Notes 5 3/4% Senior Notes Maturing June 2019	Sep. 30, 2014 Optional Redemption Under Indenture Senior Notes 7 1/2% Senior Notes Maturing September 2021	Sep. 30, 2014 Optional Redemption Under Indenture Senior Notes 7 1/4% Senior Notes Maturing February 2023	Sep. 30, 2014 Optional Redemption Under Indenture Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Sep. 30, 2014 Not In Compliance Senior Notes 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes Maturing April 2018	Dec. 31, 2014 Subsequent Event Secured Revolving Credit Facility lender
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]
Credit facility borrowing capacity																																													$ 150,000,000		$ 180,900,000
Number of lenders																																													4																			3
Expiration period																																													1 year
Long-term Line of Credit, Noncurrent																																													130,000,000
Line of Credit, Current																																													20,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Current Borrowing Capacity																																													150,000,000
Inventory assets pledged as collateral																																													1,000,000,000
Outstanding borrowings under Secured Revolving Credit Facility																																													0	0
Letters of credit secured using cash collateral																																															39,100,000	25,200,000
Senior Notes [Abstract]
Minimum consolidated tangible net worth	85,000,000								85,000,000
Debt Instrument, Original Percentage of Debt That Could Be Repurchased												10.00%
Debt Instrument, Original Amount of Debt That Could Be Repurchased												27,500,000
Consolidated Tangible Net Worth	255,200,000								255,200,000
Senior notes														325,000,000	0	200,000,000	200,000,000	200,000,000	200,000,000		300,000,000	300,000,000		0	298,000,000		235,000,000	235,000,000		172,879,000	172,879,000
Debt instrument stated interest rate (percent)														5.75%	5.75%	7.50%	7.50%	7.25%	7.25%	7.25%	6.625%	6.625%		9.125%	9.125%	12.00%	9.125%	9.125%	6.875%	8.125%	8.125%		7.50%					7.987%
Debt instrument redemption price (percent)														100.00%		100.00%		100.00%			100.00%								101.146%																				100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	105.625%	103.625%	103.313%	100.00%	101.00%	101.00%	101.00%	105.75%	107.50%	107.25%	106.625%	100.00%
Percent of original debt amount required to be offered for repurchase (percent)														35.00%		35.00%		35.00%			35.00%																																						65.00%	65.00%	65.00%	65.00%
Early Repayment of Senior Debt																								17,200,000
Beazer homes' ownership interest in guarantor subsidiaries	100.00%								100.00%
Aggregate principal amount of debt																200,000,000				200,000,000			300,000,000														75,000,000	103,100,000				32,600,000
Tangible Equity Units TEUs Converted																																890,000
Stock Exchange, Debt Related to Tangible Equity Unit																																2,400,000
Cash used for redemption of debt																										280,000,000
Outstanding debt that was redeemed or repurchased																								2,000,000				15,000,000												205,000,000	20,000,000
Aggregate purchase price of Senior Notes																											14,600,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	19,764,000	153,000	0	998,000	0	3,638,000	0	19,917,000	4,636,000	45,097,000	3,600,000												(19,800,000)		(42,400,000)		(30,000)												(1,000,000)
Tangible Equity Units (TEUs) issued during period (units)																																	4,600,000	2,800,000
Installments as an annual cash payment percentage (percent)																98.541%
Junior Subordinated Notes [Abstract]
Effective period of debt instrument interest rate																																			10 years
Unamortized accretion	4,399,000				5,160,000				4,399,000	5,160,000		4,399,000	5,160,000																						45,000,000
Number of loan facilities																																								2
Three-month LIBOR																																								LIBOR
Spread on three-month LIBOR rate (percent)																																								0.40%
Secured Debt [Abstract]
Additional borrowings under cash secured loan facilities									325,000,000	397,082,000	300,000,000																												214,800,000
Long-term debt																										$ 250,000,000									$ 55,737,000	$ 53,670,000				$ 22,368,000	$ 22,368,000		$ 22,145,000	$ 19,285,000
Weighted average fixed interest rate of debt (percent)																																											4.07%