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I want to remove these two wall faces at the corner here to open up the room & fireplace a bit. I cut a hole in the drywall and found OSB behind it, so now I'm concerned if this is a shear wall or structural? enter image description here

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Inside photos are looking back at the corner from inside.

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JBlake
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    Is the angled line coming from the ceiling to 3' above the floor reflecting the roofline, or is it purely decorative? If it's your roof, then those walls are almost certainly structural, though you need an on-site expert to properly assess. – Aloysius Defenestrate Aug 29 '21 at 19:04
  • Updated post with 2 more photos. Yes, the angle in the center of the first picture is the roofline. So you are saying it's structural? – JBlake Aug 29 '21 at 19:20
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    What you are calling OSB is good(expensive) plywood, which is stronger than OSB. Do not think taking it down is a good idea, just for extra space. – crip659 Aug 29 '21 at 19:21
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    Well, it could be that your rafter isn't relying on those walls, but I wouldn't bet the house on it. Especially since someone took the trouble to skin it with plywood. (Cue the onsite engineer visit...) If it isn't a shear wall, how about building drawers/cubbies into that space? You could replace framing sensibly and get openings wider than 14". – Aloysius Defenestrate Aug 29 '21 at 22:17
  • How much _usable_ space would you actually get by removing those two little walls? How much _apparent_ space (i.e. it "looks" bigger, even though you can't realistically use it) would you get? How much of a pain would it be to vacuum the carpet there and fish out toys and the other detritus of life that wander into that tight wedge of a spot but are difficult for an adult to reach and retrieve? i.e., is it really worth the effort to get a couple of square feet of useless (at best), counterproductive (at worst) floor space? – FreeMan Aug 30 '21 at 15:39

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