Adding 1x3 boards to the inside was simple. But, this did not keep out all of the rain since the doors do not close flush against the wood. We needed to add flaps on the outside of the doors.
I wish this would have been an easy task, but like most everything at this house, it was not. The floor underneath the doors stuck out 1-3 inches and this meant that a flap would not be flush with the door and floor.
Knowing this would be a dirty job beforehand was a positive thing. Otherwise, I might have been upset about the dirt that got everywhere. First step was to draw a semi-straight line marking where we wanted to cut the floor. Then, Aaron used a circular saw with a wet blade to cut a straight line. I ran water on the floor near the blade while he made the cuts (you know, helping). We had to make a cut from the top and side to knock off a smooth piece. Lots of dust! He quickly put a handkerchief over his face after this shot.
Now that we have the floor cut correctly to allow a flap, it was time to make the flaps. We could just buy the pre made flaps from the store, but they are expensive and what I would call junk. What would DIY people like us do in this scenario? Make our own of course :) I had the great idea of cutting up some rubber outdoor rugs for the flaps. This would give us flaps that are durable and not some flimsy plastic junk from the store. Using the table saw, we were able to easily cut strips from a $20 rug from Home Depot. Then, we used a blow torch to singe the edges of each strip and attached them to the doors with a few screws. Easy!