header design

hi,
i use php and am using a header file to wrap my content pages around. i am currently using tables for the layout and have left column for a menu and the second column for content, folowed by a footer. The first time i attempted to use left and right side columns, i ran into a problem where the content would bleed over into the right column at times.

My question being, does anyone have an idea on how to use a 2 column layout without having the content overlap any of the 2?

hope im making myself clear and thanks in advance.

You're probably going to have to post some code for anyone to really help you further…there are a lot of ways in which what you describe can happen.

A link to the site would be best if it's available.