Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - Removed carpet from landing

My staircase begins at a 1st floor landing which also serves as the entry to my coat closet. I removed the carpet from the landing and am now down to a wood surface, which could be subfloor or underlayerment.

There's a 1/4" gap between the wood and the molding which was invisible when the carpet was present - I want a wood surface for the landing, so do I need another layer of wood to fill this gap? What choices do i have?

The gap was there intentionally. If the carpenters know carpet is going in, they leave the gap for the carpet to be tucked under. It helps lock it onto the tack strip. If you're going to install wood, you need to remove the base board, install the wood, and re-install the base. The door jamb and trim will be under cut so the wood can slide under it for a nice clean look. I'm assuming, by "molding", you are referring to the base board.

The gap was there intentionally. If the carpenters know carpet is going in, they leave the gap for the carpet to be tucked under. It helps lock it onto the tack strip. If you're going to install wood, you need to remove the base board, install the wood, and re-install the base. The door jamb and trim will be under cut so the wood can slide under it for a nice clean look. I'm assuming, by "molding", you are referring to the base board.

Thanks - I figured that's the intent. I just want to make sure i'm right that I should not just refinish and walk on the wood that was under the carpet.

Now I'm confused. I guess I made an assumption here after more carefully reading your original post. Are you putting down a new wood surface or intending to use what ever was under the carpet? If you are dong nothing further with the floor, I'm not sure I'd do any thing with the base, just live with the gap. If you lower the base, you'll probably have to deal with the paint on the wall and, yada, yada, yada. If you're putting down another wood surface, the base should go back in roughly the same place or a bit higher so it wouldn't be a potential issue.

Now I'm confused. I guess I made an assumption here after more carefully reading your original post. Are you putting down a new wood surface or intending to use what ever was under the carpet? If you are dong nothing further with the floor, I'm not sure I'd do any thing with the base, just live with the gap. If you lower the base, you'll probably have to deal with the paint on the wall and, yada, yada, yada. If you're putting down another wood surface, the base should go back in roughly the same place or a bit higher so it wouldn't be a potential issue.

I guess my question is..do I need to replace the carpet with another surface?

Not if you don't want to. All floor coverings, be they carpet, tile, wood, vinyl, or what have you, are just that, floor coverings. They cover floors to make them look, feel, perform, or last better. But, the surface under them is actually the floor and, if that surface meets your needs and you're happy with it, go for it. People lived on dirt floors for thousands of years, in some instances still do, and it works for them. I don't see why your subfloor wouldn't work.