[RESOLVED] graphics / paint issue with datagridview

[BruceG]

Hi all,
The task at hand was to add group headings within my data in the datagridview (i.e., I needed to merge cells in particular rows). Since this is not a native feature of the DGV, after hours of searching I found some code that does the trick. I modified that code to suit my needs, and it works great except for one wrinkle: it places extra, cut off text at the top of the DGV (in/above the column header area) and I can't figure out how to get rid of it. This screen shot shows the problem:
http://thevbprogrammer.com/dgv.png
The code used to accomplish the merging, in the DGV's Paint event, is as follows:

    Private Sub dgvAvailItems_Paint(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) Handles dgvAvailItems.Paint

        Dim fnt As Font
        Dim brush As Drawing.Brush

        For intRowX As Integer = 0 To dgvAvailItems.Rows.Count - 1
            If dgvAvailItems.Rows(intRowX).Cells(14).Value <> "" Then
                If dgvAvailItems.Rows(intRowX).Cells(14).Value = "W" Then
                    fnt = New Font("Tahoma", 10, FontStyle.Italic + FontStyle.Bold, GraphicsUnit.Point)
                    brush = Brushes.RoyalBlue
                Else
                    fnt = New Font("Tahoma", 10, FontStyle.Bold, GraphicsUnit.Point)
                    brush = Brushes.Black
                End If
                Dim rct As Rectangle = dgvAvailItems.GetRowDisplayRectangle(intRowX, True)
                rct.Height -= 1
                Dim s As SizeF = e.Graphics.MeasureString(dgvAvailItems.Rows(intRowX).Cells(1).Value, dgvAvailItems.Font)
                Dim lefts As Integer = (rct.Width / 2) - (s.Width / 2)
                Dim tops As Integer = rct.Top + ((rct.Height / 2) - (s.Height / 2))
                e.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brushes.White, rct)
                e.Graphics.DrawString(dgvAvailItems.Rows(intRowX).Cells(1).Value, fnt, brush, 2, tops)
            End If
        Next

     End Sub

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.