Support 2x4 boards

[Jimmi]

I am finishing out my bonus room above the garage and am wondering if I can remove these support 2x4s? I would like to remove them to add extra room for storage behind the knee walls and along the rear of the room.

[Richard A Hetzel]

That information might be found by looking at the roiginal drawings for the house, if they're available. Your local building department should have a copy. However, my guess is that those 2x4's were added when the framers realized that the valley rafters were not designed in accordance with code, and if that's the case, removing them altogether would not be a good idea. It might be possible to relocate them to where they will not interfere with your plans, but then, you may have to add one or two more so that the span of the valley rafter is not increased. Then, of course, there is the question of what is below them to handle the loads they transmit. The ceiling joists, which probably take their loads, should be checked for enough excess capacity to handle the loads.