Business and geographic segments - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Insurance recoveries	$ 1.7
Kronos Worldwide, Inc. \| Valhi Incorporation
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Direct ownership percentage by parent	50.00%
Kronos Worldwide, Inc. \| NL
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Indirect controlling interest in subsidiary	31.00%
NL \| Valhi Incorporation
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Direct ownership percentage by parent	83.00%
LandWell \| Valhi Incorporation
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Direct ownership percentage by parent	27.00%
LandWell \| BMI
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Indirect controlling interest in subsidiary	50.00%
BMI \| Valhi Incorporation
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Direct ownership percentage by parent	63.00%

The amount recovered from insurance. These recoveries reduce costs and losses that are reported as a separate line item under operating expenses.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.3)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126953954&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InsuranceRecoveries
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageByParent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Controlling interest in subsidiary held indirectly through controlled subsidiary of parent.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vhi_IndirectControllingInterestInSubsidiary
Namespace Prefix:	vhi_
Data Type:	dtr-types:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_OwnershipAxis=vhi_KronosMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=vhi_ValhiIncorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=vhi_NLIndustriesIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_OwnershipAxis=vhi_NLIndustriesIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_OwnershipAxis=vhi_LandWellMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=vhi_BasicManagementIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_OwnershipAxis=vhi_BasicManagementIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: