Hi,
I think perhaps you are not clicking the right place for the selections you need. Please consider the following:
To select/open the properties of the full layout grid, you need to click in the small area in the top left indicated as 1. If you want to select/open the properties of just the column, click anywhere in the small strip on the very top. Single click = select, double click = open properties.
Clicking in the middle of the column is just selecting the content pane which does not present you the properties.
I hope that helps.