Organization and Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail)	Sep. 30, 2016
Kronos
Organization And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items]
Parent company ownership interest	30.00%
Valhi Inc
Organization And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items]
Parent company ownership interest	83.00%
Valhi Inc \| Contran Corporation
Organization And Basis Of Presentation [Line Items]
Parent company ownership interest	93.00%

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant