I tried aligning a grid vbaligntop but how can i get it to match the
window's side on a reside neatly, i've tried an onresize event and to
suntract the amounts i need from the toolbars and resizing the grid but...
doesnt look too pretty is there a better way?

Are you using the form's ScaleHeight & ScaleWidth?

In other words,
    Grid1.Move 0, 0, Me.ScaleWidth, Me.ScaleHeight
or a similar routine called from the form's Resize event?