Walls and Ceilings - Finishing ceiling after drywalling

I just added 2 rooms to my basement, one office & one bathroom. Both ceiling are drywalled. In the bath, I used green board. I was going to finish both ceilings with joint compound mixed with water and then use a texture brush.

My question is do I need to prime the drywall prior to putting this compound on. If so is Kilz OK to use.

Any other suggestions would be helpful to finishing both ceilings.

The long answer is, no, use a PVA primer before finish paint.

Kilz is great stuff, but not meant to be use as a primer for new drywall. As the previous poster stated a PVA Primer should always be use on new board prior ro texturing. This type of primer dries quickly and and seals the exposed face paper on the rock, as well as the mudded areas.

I also recommend a second coat of primer once the texture has been applied, again to deal with absorbation issues and to seal the texture. This step will make the difference on how much finish paint is needed and paint cost more than primer. One other tip, don't scrimp when it comes to the primer and paint, like everything else in this world, you get what you pay for. I generally do at least a dozen drywall jobs a yr, so there's a bit of experience behind that last statement.

Hope that helps & best of luck!