Related Party Transactions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Related Party Transactions	Note 11 – Related party transactions: We may be deemed to be controlled by Ms. Lisa Simmons, Ms. Connelly, and Ms Annette Simmons. See Note 1. Corporations that may be deemed to be controlled by or affiliated with these individuals sometimes engage in (a) intercorporate transactions such as guarantees, management and expense sharing arrangements, shared fee arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships, loans, options, advances of funds on open account, and sales, leases and exchanges of assets, including securities issued by both related and unrelated parties and (b) common investment and acquisition strategies, business combinations, reorganizations, recapitalizations, securities repurchases, and purchases and sales (and other acquisitions and dispositions) of subsidiaries, divisions or other business units, which transactions have involved both related and unrelated parties and have included transactions that resulted in the acquisition by one related party of a publicly-held minority equity interest in another related party. We continuously consider, review and evaluate, and understand that Contran and related entities consider, review and evaluate such transactions. Depending upon the business, tax and other objectives then relevant, it is possible that we might be a party to one or more such transactions in the future. From time to time, we will have loans and advances outstanding between us and various related parties pursuant to term and demand notes. We generally enter into these loans and advances for cash management purposes. When we loan funds to related parties, we are generally able to earn a higher rate of return on the loan than we would earn if we invested the funds in other instruments. While certain of these loans may be of a lesser credit quality than cash equivalent instruments otherwise available to us, we believe we have evaluated the credit risks in the terms of the applicable loans. In this regard, in February 2010 we entered into an unsecured revolving demand promissory note with NL in which, as amended, we have agreed to loan NL up to $40 million. As amended, our loans to NL would bear interest at the prime rate less .75%, with all principal due on demand on or after March 31, 2016 (and in any event no later than December 31, 2016), with interest payable quarterly. The principal amount we lend to NL at any time is at our discretion. We made no loans to NL during 2012, 2013 or 2014. Prior to 2012, we issued a promissory note payable to TIMET Finance Management Company, a former affiliate, which bore interest at LIBOR plus 1% (payable quarterly) and provided for quarterly principal repayments of $250,000 with the balance due at maturity in September 2014. The promissory note was prepayable at any time at our option, without penalty, and we prepaid all remaining outstanding principal and interest under this promissory note in July 2013. Repayments of principal under this promissory note were $3.8 million in 2012 and $18.5 million in 2013 (including the amount paid upon final payment). We recognized interest expense of $303,000 in 2012 and $127,000 in 2013 on this promissory note. Under the terms of an Intercorporate Service Agreement (“ISA”) with Contran, employees of Contran perform certain management, tax planning, financial, legal and administrative services for us on a fee basis. Such fees are based upon estimates of time devoted to our affairs by individual Contran employees and the compensation of such persons. Because of the large number of companies affiliated with Contran, we believe we benefit from cost savings and economies of scale gained by not having certain management, financial and administrative staffs duplicated at each entity, thus allowing certain individuals to provide services to multiple companies but only be compensated by one entity. Fees pursuant to these agreements aggregated $3.7 million in 2012, $3.9 million in 2013 and $3.0 million in 2014. This agreement is renewed annually, and we expect to pay $3.0 million under the ISA during 2015. Tall Pines Insurance Company (“Tall Pines”) and EWI RE, Inc. (“EWI”) provide for or broker certain insurance policies for Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us. Tall Pines and EWI are subsidiaries of Valhi. Consistent with insurance industry practices, Tall Pines and EWI receive commissions from the insurance and reinsurance underwriters and/or assess fees for the policies that they provide or broker. The aggregate premiums we paid to Tall Pines and EWI were approximately $1.2 million in 2012, $1.0 million in 2013 and $1.1 million in 2014. These amounts principally included payments for insurance, but also included commissions paid to Tall Pines and EWI. Tall Pines purchases reinsurance from third-party insurance carriers with an A.M. Best Company rating of generally at least A-(Excellent) for substantially all of the risks it underwrites. We expect that these relationships with Tall Pines and EWI will continue in 2015. Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, purchase certain of their insurance policies as a group, with the costs of the jointly-owned policies being apportioned among the participating companies. With respect to certain of these policies, it is possible that unusually large losses incurred by one or more insureds during a given policy period could leave the other participating companies without adequate coverage under that policy for the balance of the policy period. As a result, Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, have entered into a loss sharing agreement under which any uninsured loss is shared by those entities who have submitted claims under the relevant policy. We believe the benefits in the form of reduced premiums and broader coverage associated with the group coverage for such policies justifies the risk associated with the potential for any uninsured loss.

Note 11 – Related party transactions:

We may be deemed to be controlled by Ms. Lisa Simmons, Ms. Connelly, and Ms Annette Simmons. See Note 1. Corporations that may be deemed to be controlled by or affiliated with these individuals sometimes engage in (a) intercorporate transactions such as guarantees, management and expense sharing arrangements, shared fee arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships, loans, options, advances of funds on open account, and sales, leases and exchanges of assets, including securities issued by both related and unrelated parties and (b) common investment and acquisition strategies, business combinations, reorganizations, recapitalizations, securities repurchases, and purchases and sales (and other acquisitions and dispositions) of subsidiaries, divisions or other business units, which transactions have involved both related and unrelated parties and have included transactions that resulted in the acquisition by one related party of a publicly-held minority equity interest in another related party. We continuously consider, review and evaluate, and understand that Contran and related entities consider, review and evaluate such transactions. Depending upon the business, tax and other objectives then relevant, it is possible that we might be a party to one or more such transactions in the future.

From time to time, we will have loans and advances outstanding between us and various related parties pursuant to term and demand notes. We generally enter into these loans and advances for cash management purposes. When we loan funds to related parties, we are generally able to earn a higher rate of return on the loan than we would earn if we invested the funds in other instruments. While certain of these loans may be of a lesser credit quality than cash equivalent instruments otherwise available to us, we believe we have evaluated the credit risks in the terms of the applicable loans. In this regard, in February 2010 we entered into an unsecured revolving demand promissory note with NL in which, as amended, we have agreed to loan NL up to $40 million. As amended, our loans to NL would bear interest at the prime rate less .75%, with all principal due on demand on or after March 31, 2016 (and in any event no later than December 31, 2016), with interest payable quarterly. The principal amount we lend to NL at any time is at our discretion. We made no loans to NL during 2012, 2013 or 2014.

Prior to 2012, we issued a promissory note payable to TIMET Finance Management Company, a former affiliate, which bore interest at LIBOR plus 1% (payable quarterly) and provided for quarterly principal repayments of $250,000 with the balance due at maturity in September 2014. The promissory note was prepayable at any time at our option, without penalty, and we prepaid all remaining outstanding principal and interest under this promissory note in July 2013. Repayments of principal under this promissory note were $3.8 million in 2012 and $18.5 million in 2013 (including the amount paid upon final payment). We recognized interest expense of $303,000 in 2012 and $127,000 in 2013 on this promissory note.

Under the terms of an Intercorporate Service Agreement (“ISA”) with Contran, employees of Contran perform certain management, tax planning, financial, legal and administrative services for us on a fee basis. Such fees are based upon estimates of time devoted to our affairs by individual Contran employees and the compensation of such persons. Because of the large number of companies affiliated with Contran, we believe we benefit from cost savings and economies of scale gained by not having certain management, financial and administrative staffs duplicated at each entity, thus allowing certain individuals to provide services to multiple companies but only be compensated by one entity. Fees pursuant to these agreements aggregated $3.7 million in 2012, $3.9 million in 2013 and $3.0 million in 2014. This agreement is renewed annually, and we expect to pay $3.0 million under the ISA during 2015.

Tall Pines Insurance Company (“Tall Pines”) and EWI RE, Inc. (“EWI”) provide for or broker certain insurance policies for Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us. Tall Pines and EWI are subsidiaries of Valhi. Consistent with insurance industry practices, Tall Pines and EWI receive commissions from the insurance and reinsurance underwriters and/or assess fees for the policies that they provide or broker. The aggregate premiums we paid to Tall Pines and EWI were approximately $1.2 million in 2012, $1.0 million in 2013 and $1.1 million in 2014. These amounts principally included payments for insurance, but also included commissions paid to Tall Pines and EWI. Tall Pines purchases reinsurance from third-party insurance carriers with an A.M. Best Company rating of generally at least A-(Excellent) for substantially all of the risks it underwrites. We expect that these relationships with Tall Pines and EWI will continue in 2015.

Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, purchase certain of their insurance policies as a group, with the costs of the jointly-owned policies being apportioned among the participating companies. With respect to certain of these policies, it is possible that unusually large losses incurred by one or more insureds during a given policy period could leave the other participating companies without adequate coverage under that policy for the balance of the policy period. As a result, Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, have entered into a loss sharing agreement under which any uninsured loss is shared by those entities who have submitted claims under the relevant policy. We believe the benefits in the form of reduced premiums and broader coverage associated with the group coverage for such policies justifies the risk associated with the potential for any uninsured loss.