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Best bitumen paint

Updated: 21 October 2026

You want one tin, and the cheapest litre is not the one with thousands of reviews. The best bitumen paint here is a conditional pick. Bartoline Bitcote, 5 litres, is the top pick: coverage, a dry time, two coats, and the lowest price per litre on 19 October 2026. Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litres, is the best value if you want the tin 3,348 reviewers have argued about. Peter F. scored the six amazon.co.uk listings, not a lab. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See the [Bitumen paint](/hub/flooring-tools-and-accessories/bitumen-paint) comparison, the [bitumen paint buying guide](/hub/flooring-tools-and-accessories/bitumen-paint/sub/bitumen-paint-buying-guide), and [how to apply bitumen paint](/hub/flooring-tools-and-accessories/bitumen-paint/sub/bitumen-paint-how-to-apply).

You want one tin, and the cheapest litre is not the one with thousands of reviews. The best bitumen paint here is a conditional pick.

Our top picks

Bartoline Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre

Best overall

Bartoline Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre
8.7/10about £28.50
View offer
Sika Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litre

Best value

Sika Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litre
7.3/10about £22.14
View offer
Bird Brand Bird Brand black bitumen paint, 1 litre

Alternative

Bird Brand Bird Brand black bitumen paint, 1 litre
5.3/10about £14.79
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two picks, not one winner
  2. 2.Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre
  3. 3.Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litre
  4. 4.What to leave on the shelf

Two picks, not one winner

Scores out of 100 put Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre (B01HBLNAUW) at 87 and Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litre (B0012PJSCI), at 73. The twin pack is 63, Bird Brand 1 litre is 53, Bird Brand 5 litre is 48, and Everbuild 901 is 41. The highest score is the top pick. Sika holds best value even though Bartoline is cheaper per litre, because the cheapest tin already holds the top pick. "Best" here means the most complete listing at the lowest price per litre in this set of six. It is not a service life or a WRAS approval.

Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre

Bartoline Bitcote, model BP7530, was £28.50 for 5 litres, £5.70 a litre. Stars are 4.7 from 16 reviews. The six United Kingdom texts cover a caravan chassis, a container roof, and a shed. They mention mess and smell, not a film that failed. Sixteen reviews is a small sample next to Sika, so 4.7 is a clue, not a crowd. Buy it for a fence run, a shed, or a chassis when you want the coat count on the Amazon page. At about 5 m² per litre per coat, two coats on 10 m² of thirsty timber need about 4 litres, so 5 litres finishes that. Skip a square metre of steel: you would store most of a solvent-borne tin with a flash point, on Bartoline's sheet, of 38–40°C. The sheet also rules out a surface that can exceed 70°C.
Bartoline Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre

Testsieger

Bartoline Bartoline Bitcote 5 litre
8.7/10about £28.50
View offer

Sika Black Jack 901, 2.5 litre

In the first 50 United Kingdom texts the jobs are posts, sleepers, planters, and small shed roofs. One buyer found a new tin thinner than an older one. One received two 1 litre tins instead of 2.5 litres. Others mention mess, and they disagree about whether the brush cleans. The paint-type field says Spray and the finish field says Zinc, against a tin of black liquid. Read the bullets. Sika's sheet, and a Toolstation page for the same paint, both refuse potable tanks. That trade price is not the amazon.co.uk price.

What to leave on the shelf

The twin Bartoline pack at £45.36 is about £9.07 a litre against £28.50 for the single 5 litre Bitcote tin. Two coats are not stated, and there is one United Kingdom sentence. Buy it only if you want two smaller cans. The 5 litre Bird listing has a colour field that says the colour is not stated, while the title says black. Everbuild's drinking-water bullet has no approval number and conflicts with the current Sika sheet. Leave that tin unless you already know the can.

Common questions

Which tin should I buy?
Buy 5 litres of Bartoline Bitcote when you want the fullest listing and the lowest price per litre, £28.50 on 19 October 2026. Buy 2.5 litres of Sika Black Jack 901 for posts or a small shed roof when you want 3,348 reviews. Buy 1 litre of Bird Brand only for a small brick or metal patch. The other three lose on price, missing instructions, or missing review text.
Is the cheapest per litre also the one to buy?
In this set, yes, if you can use 5 litres. Bartoline at £5.70 a litre is both the cheapest litre and the top pick, because the listing also states two coats, coverage, and a dry time. The 5 litre Bird tin is the next cheapest litre and still stays off both badges: no review text, and no coat count.
Why is Sika the best value if Bartoline is cheaper per litre?
Best value is the next value score after the top pick is taken. Sika is dearer, at about £8.86 a litre, and the Amazon bullets lack a coverage unit and a coat count. It earns the place because 4.6 from 3,348 reviews is the only large sample here. A tin with no review text cannot take it. Sika is not a second top pick.
Should I buy the Everbuild 5 litre tin?
Not from this listing alone. It is £42.29, dearer than 5 litres of Bartoline, and the bullets omit coverage, hours, solvent, and surfaces. The drinking-water sentence has no approval number, and Sika's current sheet for the related 901 paint says not for potable tanks. The stated weight is 2.35 kg. Buy it only if you already know the product from the tin in your hand.
Is the Bird 5 litre tin a bargain at £31.78?
It is about £6.36 a litre, with 8–10 m² per litre and white spirit stated. The star line is 5.0 from 5 with no review text, there is no dry time, and timber is not named. "Previously certified" is not a current water approval. It can be a metal or brick tin if you accept that silence. It is not the tin to grab for fence posts.
Who should skip the top pick?
Skip 5 litres of Bartoline if you only need about a litre, if you will not store a large can of solvent-borne paint, or if you want thousands of reviews before you trust a star line from 16. Also skip it for a drinking-water tank, for tarmac, and for any plan to put emulsion or gloss over the black film. Those limits are the maker's sheet, not a lab we ran.

Related pages

Bitumen paint or a roof coating

Bitumen paint

Bitumen paint buying guide: coverage and tin sizes

Bitumen paint for fence posts: coat the buried end

How to apply bitumen paint: two coats and a solvent

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listing lines saved on 19 October 2026. No laboratory test.

  1. Bartoline Bitcote technical data sheet (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Bartoline black bitumen paint (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Sika Black Jack 901 UK product data sheet (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Drinking Water Inspectorate — bitumen products FAQ (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. WRAS approvals directory, section 5021 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. HSE CIS27 — solvents (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Bird Brand black bituminous paint (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. HSE — creosote ministerial decisions (retrieved 19 October 2026)