Regarding the fix to eliminate your html from wrapping around the TOC.
Copy includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_page_default.php to includes/templates/CUSTOM/templates/
Then add this after line 52 (immediately below the last </div>):
<br class="clearBoth" />
The class comes from the main stylesheet.
You can also do: <br clear="both" />
If you implement this fix you won't need to add extra spaces and will achieve a consistent cross-browser look.