The other day, I wanted to go buy a sledgehammer.  I hopped in a cab to my local 建材城 (construction material city), made my way past the 地板 (flooring) and the 地毯 (carpeting) until I got to the 五金 (hardware) section.  I set aside 螺丝刀 (screwdrivers) and smaller 锤子 (hammers) until I relented and just asked for a hammer.  “What kind?” they wanted to know.  I said I wanted the kind that you’d use to 拆楼 (tear down a building).  They slid a dense metal block onto a pole and sealed it with a 钉子 (nail).  After that, they measured it with a 尺子 (ruler) and I picked up a 卷尺 (tape measure) for some of my future household projects.

Words

建材城 jian4cai2cheng2 – construction material city (basically any large place that sells construction materials)
地板 di4ban3 – floorboard
地毯 di4tan3 – carpet(ing)
五金 wu3jin1 – hardware
螺丝刀 luo2si1dao1 – screwdriver
锤子 chui2zi3 – hammer
拆楼 chai1lou2 – demolish a building
钉子 ding1zi3 – nail
尺子 chi3(2)zi3 – ruler
卷尺 juan1chi3 – tape measure