Balance held at close of period in number of shares.

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This item represents the net total realized and unrealized gain (loss) included in earnings for the period as a result of selling or holding marketable securities categorized as trading, available-for-sale, or held-to-maturity, including the unrealized holding gain (loss) of held-to-maturity securities transferred to the trading security category and the cumulative unrealized gain (loss) which was included in other comprehensive income (a separate component of shareholders' equity) for available-for-sale securities transferred to trading securities during the period. Additionally, this item would include any losses recognized for other than temporary impairments (OTTI) of the subject investments in debt and equity securities.

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Marketable Securities - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Schedule Of Available For Sale Securities [Line Items]
Sale of common stock	$ 660	$ 272	$ 24,146
Pre-tax gain on sale of shares	16us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesGainLoss	11us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesGainLoss	16,567us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesGainLoss
TIMET common stock
Schedule Of Available For Sale Securities [Line Items]
Outstanding common stock, shares				1.4
Percentage of outstanding common stock, shares				0.80%
Sale of common stock			23,900
Issuance value per share			$ 16.50
Pre-tax gain on sale of shares			$ 16,600
Valhi Inc \| Affiliated Entity \| Common stock
Schedule Of Available For Sale Securities [Line Items]
Outstanding common stock, shares	14.4	14.4
Common stock quoted market price per share	$ 6.41	$ 17.58