Thanks for the reply but I don't think that will work in my situation. I'm using the text field so they can enter large numbers. One project may require 5000 sq ft. That would be too much to enter into the product options field.
I figured out how to do it. I also applied a quantity validation function on the product.tpl page as outlined in this post:
http://forum.x-cart.com/viewtopic.php?t=3117&highlight=input+field
Now the only thing that I'm trying to do is validate the quantity on the products.tpl file when the buy it now function is enabled.