@rebeccao1 said "You are saying that because I've rented it out for any period of time, I am now required to take a few years of deprecated value rather than the full value of the expense when I sell?"
No. You still get to deduct (add to your cost basis) the full value of the improvement cost ($37K) when you sell. But you also have to "recapture" the depreciation you took or should have taken, when you sell. For example, if you rent for 2 years, that Plumbing improvement will depreciate $2690. So when you sell in the future, you only get to "deduct" $34,310 (37000 - 2690), because you shoulda deducted $2690 earlier.
The same rule applies to the cost basis of the house itself.
You are not required to take the depreciation while you rent it out. But you are required to recapture the depreciation when you sell, whether you actually claimed it or not. So, you should claim it to get the current year deduction.
I'm not aware of any exceptions for intended short period rentals. But l'll solicit some other opinions for you. @tagteam @Carl
