Side menu div height does not extend with main div - css

Question

I have a .page <div> that surrounds all of the content inside. When the content stretches, so does the .page <div>.
My main issue is that the .leftBannerBackground <div> does not extend with the .page <div>.
Is there anything I can do to make the height of the .leftBannerBackground <div> extend with the .page <div>?
Short version of HTML:
<div class="page">
<div class="header">
<div class="top_banner">
</div>
<div class="title">
<h1 class="siteColor centeredText">
Header </h1>
</div>
</div>
<div class="leftBanner">
</div>
<div class="leftBannerBackground">
</div>
<div class="main">
<!-- Content goes here -->
<div class="leftSide">
</div>
<div class="rightSide" style="margin-top: 35px;"></div>
</div>
<div class="bottomFiller"></div>
<div class="footer">
</div>
</div>
CSS:
/* DEFAULTS
----------------------------------------------------------*/
body
{
background: #ffffff;
font-size: .80em;
font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Lucida Grande", "Segoe UI", Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;
/*margin: 0px;*/
text-align:justify;
padding: 0px;
color: #000000;
/*height: auto !important;
height: 100%;
min-height: 100%;*/
}
p
{
margin-bottom: 10px;
line-height: 1.2em;
}
/* HEADINGS
----------------------------------------------------------*/
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6
{
font-size: 1.5em;
color: #666666;
font-variant: small-caps;
text-transform: none;
font-weight: 200;
margin-bottom: 0px;
}
h1
{
font-size: 1.6em;
padding-bottom: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
}
h2
{
font-size: 1.5em;
font-weight: 600;
}
h3
{
font-size: 1.2em;
}
h4
{
font-size: 1.1em;
}
h5, h6
{
font-size: 1em;
}
/* this rule styles <h1> and <h2> tags that are the
first child of the left and right table columns */
.rightColumn > h1, .rightColumn > h2, .leftColumn > h1, .leftColumn > h2
{
margin-top: 0px;
}
/* PRIMARY LAYOUT ELEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------*/
.page
{
width: 960px;
background-color: #fff;
/* margin: 20px auto 0px auto;*/
border: 1px solid #496077;
position: absolute;
top: 20px;
left: 50%;
margin-left: -480px;
}
.header
{
position: relative;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
background: #FFFFFF;
width: 100%;
}
.header h1
{
font-weight: 700;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;
color: #f9f9f9;
border: none;
line-height: 2em;
font-size: 2em;
}
.main
{
position:relative;
padding: 4px 12px 8px 6px;
margin: 220px 0px 0px 150px;
width: 790px;
min-height:390px;
top: 10px;
overflow: auto;
}
.bottomFiller
{
min-height: 0px;
}
.leftCol
{
padding: 6px 0px;
margin: 12px 8px 8px 8px;
width: 200px;
min-height: 200px;
}
.footer
{
position: relative;
color: #ffffff;
padding: 8px 0px 0px 0px;
margin: 0px auto;
text-align: center;
line-height: normal;
background-color: #9B0707;
min-height: 20px;
/*margin-bottom: 40px;*/
}
.partners
{
position: relative;
width: 126px;
height: 46px;
bottom: 20px;
z-index:6800;
}
/* TAB MENU
----------------------------------------------------------*/
div.hideSkiplink
{
width:100%;
}
div.menu
{
position: relative;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px;
margin-top: 275px;
margin-bottom: 0%;
height: 100%;
/*top: 200px;
margin: 275px 0px;*/
}
div.menu ul li a, div.menu ul li a:visited
{
color: #FCE756; /* text color */
font-size:medium;
display: block;
list-style: none;
line-height: 1.95em;
padding: 4px 5px;
text-decoration: none;
white-space: nowrap;
}
div.menu ul li a:hover
{
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
}
/* FORM ELEMENTS
----------------------------------------------------------*/
fieldset
{
margin: 1em 0px;
padding: 1em;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
fieldset p
{
margin: 2px 12px 10px 10px;
}
fieldset.login label, fieldset.register label, fieldset.changePassword label
{
display: block;
}
fieldset label.inline
{
display: inline;
}
legend
{
font-size: 1.1em;
font-weight: 600;
padding: 2px 4px 8px 4px;
}
input.textEntry
{
width: 320px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
input.passwordEntry
{
width: 320px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
div.accountInfo
{
width: 42%;
}
/* MISC
----------------------------------------------------------*/
.siteColor
{
color: #9B0707 !important;
}
.centeredText
{
text-align: center;
}
.clear
{
clear: both;
}
.leftBannerSpaceFiller
{
position: relative;
float:left;
background-color:#9B0707;
height: 100%;
width:132px;
}
.title
{
display: block;
float: right;
text-align: left;
right: 250px;
width: auto;
position: absolute;
margin-top: 8px;
}
.top_banner
{
background-image: url('../Images/topBanner.png');
top: 66px;
left:50px;
height: 164px;
width: 911px;
position: absolute;
z-index: 6900;
}
.leftSide {
float:left;
width:468px;
}
.leftSidecont {
float:left;
width:790px;
}
.leftSideteam {
float:left;
width:540px;
}
.leftSideliens {
float:left;
width:268px;
}
.rightSide {
float:right;
width:300px;
}
.rightSidecont {
position: absolute;
width:400px;
}
.rightSideteam {
float:right;
width:228px;
}
.rightSideliens {
float:right;
width:500px;
}
.leftBanner
{
background-image: url('../Images/leftBanner.png');
height: 592px;
width: 52px;
margin-top: 30px;
position: absolute;
z-index: 3600;
}
.leftBannerBackground
{
position:relative;
background-color: #9B0707; /* #a40a0a; */
width:132px;
z-index: 1600;
float:left;
height: 100%;
margin-bottom: 0%;
}
.loginDisplay
{
font-size: 1.1em;
display: block;
text-align: right;
padding: 10px;
color: White;
}
.bold
{
font-weight: bold;
}

Answer 1

You have two options:
Use absolute positioning on .leftBannerBackground and set top: 0px; and bottom: 0px;. Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/ZXLNk/
Use height: 100%; on .leftBannerBackground (as you are already). But in order to get that to work you need to set the height of all containing elements to 100% as well: .page, <body>, and <html>. Of course that also means you won't be able to use absolute positioning on .page. Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/gLzcK/