Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedge Activities (Additional Information) (Details) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended														3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($) Contract	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2012 EUR (€)	Jul. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Settlement Date 15 March 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Settlement Date 15 March 2013 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Settlement Date 15 March 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Interest Rate Swaps and Equity Forward Arrangements [Member] [Domain] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Exclusive of Separation and Merger Transaction [Domain] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Cash Flow Hedging [Member] Forward starting swaps [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Net Investment Hedging [Member] Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Net Investment Hedging [Member] Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Other Expense [Member] Cash Flow Hedging [Member] Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Expense [Member] Cash Flow Hedging [Member] Foreign currency contracts [Member] USD ($)
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Line Items]
Ineffective portion of expense																	$ 0		$ 0.6	$ 1.0	$ 0	$ 2.0	$ 3.0
Fair value of foreign currency contracts not designated as hedges	0		0.1
Fair value of forward currency contracts liability hedging against the exposure to exchange rates on short-term intercompany transactions denominated in foreign currencies	(8)		(1)
Forward currency contracts hedging against changes in fair value of certain firm sales commitments denominated in foreign currencies, amount converted to the South Korean won	41		56
Contracts conversion period	18 months		21 months
Contracts conversion period end date	Sep. 30, 2014
Fair value of forward currency contracts asset (liability) hedging against changes in fair value of certain firm sales commitments denominated in foreign currencies	1		3
U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts	9
Nine U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts, notional amount							1,160					600	600	560		560
Notional amount converted to cash															1
Fair value of nine U.S. dollar to euro cross currency swap contracts	(45)		(95)
Euro-denominated borrowings hedging a portion of PPG's net investment in European operations				300	300
Accumulated pretax unrealized translation gains (losses) in AOCI, related to both the euro-denominated borrowings and the cross currency swaps that have been designated as hedges of net investments	49		9
Variable interest rate debt of total borrowings								25.00%	25.00%	50.00%	50.00%
Amount interest rate swaps converted from fixed interest rate debt to variable rate debt			445
Proceeds from termination of interest rate swaps	29
Derivative Fixed Interest Rate Contract Obligation Term	10 years					10 years
Settlement of forward starting swaps	(121)
Notional amount of swaps outstanding to hedge exposure to variability of interest payments of future debt refinancing	400		0
Amount deferred in AOCI	113
Derivative Instrument, Expected Volatile Period								12 months		18 months
Percentage Decrease in Natural Gas Usage	70.00%
Fair value of natural gas swap contracts to manage exposure to fluctuating natural gas prices	0
Shares of PPG stock that are to be contributed to the asbestos settlement trust	1,388,889		1,388,889
Total principal amount payable for PPG shares contributed to the asbestos settlement	62		62
Fair value of the equity forward arrangement to mitigate the impact of changes in fair value of stock contributed to the asbestos settlement trust	129		130
Other comprehensive pretax gain (loss) related to derivative financial instruments	3	10
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, related to derivative financial instruments	5	6																(1)
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, realized gains (losses) related to derivative financial instruments	(6)	(4)
Other comprehensive income net gain (loss), net of tax, unrealized (losses) related to derivative financial instruments	$ (3)	$ 6