I have a custom dialog box which is shown when I click a button. After the dialog box is shown I show a overlay. The height and width of the overlay is 100% x 100%.
100% x 100%
Use position:fixed.
http://jsfiddle.net/ryJEW/2/
#overlay { opacity: 0.5; width: 100%; height: 100%; background-color: black; display: none; position: fixed; top: 0; left: 0; }