Goodwill and Other Intangibles - Goodwill (Details)	12 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($) item	Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Balance at the beginning of the period	$ 43,576,000	$ 44,123,000
Sale of the fiber optic cable components business	(409,000)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	25,000	(654,000)
Balance at the end of the period	$ 50,784,000	43,576,000
Number of operating segments \| item	2
Number of reporting units \| item	11
Impairment of goodwill	$ 0
Goodwill related to acquisitions that is deductible for income taxes	13,497,000
Paper Tyger
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Acquisition		107,000
Specialty chemical intermediates product line
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Acquisition	7,592,000
Industrial Materials
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Balance at the beginning of the period	32,880,000	33,390,000
Sale of the fiber optic cable components business	(409,000)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	28,000	(617,000)
Balance at the end of the period	40,091,000	32,880,000
Industrial Materials \| Paper Tyger
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Acquisition		107,000
Industrial Materials \| Specialty chemical intermediates product line
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Acquisition	7,592,000
Construction Materials
Changes in the carrying value of goodwill
Balance at the beginning of the period	10,696,000	10,733,000
Foreign currency translation adjustment	(3,000)	(37,000)
Balance at the end of the period	$ 10,693,000	$ 10,696,000

The amount of goodwill arising from a business combination that is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479

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Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
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Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

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Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Amount of loss from the write-down of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

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Amount of divestiture of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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Number of reporting units tested for impairment of goodwill. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment.

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