Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 24, 2019 USD ($) Defendant Installment	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2018 Cases	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) Installment	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) Installment site	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) Cases Installment site	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Long-term litigation settlement							$ 60,081,000	$ 60,081,000	$ 17,000,000
Litigation settlement expense								19,266,000	62,000,000
Litigation settlement							11,830,000	11,830,000	60,000,000
Number of complaints filed | Cases			2
Accrual for reasonably estimable environmental remediation and related matters							94,508,000	$ 94,508,000	$ 98,211,000	$ 111,909,000	$ 116,658,000
Customer Concentration Risk | Top Ten Customers | Sales Revenue
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage								47.00%	44.00%	44.00%
Component Products | Customer Concentration Risk | Customer Two | Sales Revenue | CompX Security Products Business
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Concentration risk percentage								14.00%	13.00%	16.00%
Environmental Remediation Sites NL Named As PRP Or Defendant
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Accrual for reasonably estimable environmental remediation and related matters							$ 94,500,000	$ 94,500,000
Number of sites associated with remediation and related costs | site							32	32
Number of sites currently not able to reasonably estimate a range of costs | site							5	5
Maximum | Environmental Remediation Sites NL Named As PRP Or Defendant
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Upper end range, estimate costs for remediation and related matters							$ 115,000,000	$ 115,000,000
Environmental Remediation Litigation
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Recoveries receivable							$ 0	$ 0	$ 15,000,000
Lead Pigment Litigation
Commitments and Contingent Liabilities [Line Items]
Number of cases settled and dismissed and found not liable | Cases								100
Period by which loss contingency claims settled and dismissed								30 years
Description of defendants								on July 24, 2019, an order approving a global settlement agreement entered into among all of the plaintiffs and the three defendants remaining in the case (the Sherwin Williams Company, ConAgra Grocery Products and us) was entered by the court and the case was dismissed with prejudice. The global settlement agreement provides that an aggregate $305 million will be paid collectively by the three co-defendants in full satisfaction of all claims resulting in a dismissal of the case with prejudice and the resolution of (i) all pending and future claims by the plaintiffs in the case, and (ii) all potential claims for contribution or indemnity between us and our co-defendants in respect to the case
Number of defendants | Defendant	3
Litigation settlement amount	$ 305,000,000
NL's portion of global settlement amount, gross value	101,700,000					$ 62,000,000
Litigation initial payment made 60 days after litigation settlement	25,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement charge	$ 76,700,000					$ 20,000,000
Number of annual installments | Installment	6					5	5	5
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in first year	$ 12,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in second year	12,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in third year	12,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in fourth year	12,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in fifth year	12,000,000
Remaining litigation settlement payment due in sixth year	$ 16,700,000
Litigation initial payment		$ 25,000,000
Recognized accretion expense							$ 600,000
Litigation settlement, current						$ 80,000,000
Litigation settlement charge upon approval of settlement terms						45,000,000
Long-term litigation settlement						$ 17,000,000	$ 60,100,000	$ 60,100,000
Litigation settlement installments payment beginning term from approval						4 years
Discounted rate for estimated present value of remaining litigation amount							1.90%	1.90%
Litigation settlement expense					$ 19,600,000			$ 19,300,000
Litigation settlement credit				$ 300,000
Litigation settlement estimated net present value							$ 96,300,000	96,300,000
Litigation payment due							$ 12,000,000	$ 12,000,000
Noncurrent restricted cash		15,600,000		15,600,000
Escrow deposit		$ 9,000,000		$ 9,000,000