Equity and redeemable securities (Schedule of temporary equity) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 Redeemable Class A Junior Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Redeemable Class A Junior Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Redeemable Class A Junior Preferred Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Redeemable Class B Senior Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Redeemable Class B Senior Preferred Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Convertible Class C Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Class C Preferred Stock [Member]
Temporary Equity [Line Items]
Beginning balance					$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 36,477	$ 54,997	$ 5,000	$ 0
Beginning balance (in shares)					5,100	5,100	5,100	36,388	48,760	5,000	0
Issuance of Convertible Class C Preferred stock											5,000
Issuance of Convertible Class C Preferred stock (in shares)											5,000
Recognition of beneficial conversion feature on Convertible Class C Preferred stock	0	0	0	(5,000)						(5,000)	(5,000)
Deemed dividend on Convertible Class C Preferred stock										5,000	5,000
Dividends accrued on Class B Preferred stock								1,473	4,480
Redemption of Preferred stock									(12,372)
Redemption of Preferred stock (in shares)									(12,372)
Conversion of Saturn Acquisition Holdings, LLC preferred stock to Stock Building Supply Holdings, Inc. preferred stock (Note 1)								1,079
Dividends paid on Class B Preferred stock									(10,628)
Ending balance (in shares)					5,100	5,100	5,100	37,467	36,388	5,000	5,000
Ending balance					$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 37,950	$ 36,477	$ 5,000	$ 5,000